Annona muricata L. (soursop) easily adapts to irrigation in the semiarid Northeast. The economically important fruits have high exportation potential, so production has been encouraged. The use of organic amendments, together with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may be useful for production of seedlings. However, the effect of such amendments on the symbiosis established between AMF and soursop remains unknown. The effect of AMF multiplied in a substrate with earthworm manure on the formation of A. muricata seedlings maintained in fertilized substrate was investigated. The experimental design was entirely random, in a factorial of 2×5 = 2 substrates (with or without 10% organic manure) and five inoculation treatments (Acaulospora longula Spain & Schenck and Gigaspora albida Schenck & Smith, produced in substrates with or without organic residue and an uninoculated control), with four replicates. After 102 days, dry mass of shoots and roots, height, growth rate, production of AMF spores and glomalin, soil enzymatic activity, microbial respiration, total, arbuscular and hyphal colonization were evaluated. In general, seedling growth was stimulated by the inoculation with AMF, but in the fertilized soil, growth of seedlings in symbiosis with G. albida was not benefited. The use of organic fertilizer stimulated mycorrhizal colonization, microbial respiration, enzymatic activity and glomalin production, but inhibited A. longula sporulation. The application of AMF and organic manure may constitute an alternative for production of Annona muricata, since it reduced by half the period for seedling formation, and can reduce by 75% the dose of fertilizer to be applied. However, the choice of AMF compatible with the host is needed to assure positive results. The combination of both, AMF and organic amendment, can also improve soil quality, thus contributing to sustainable production of seedlings of A. muricata and other fruit trees.
organic amendment; Glomeromycota; mycorrhiza; seedling production
