Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Banana Growth during Hardening Phase and Field Phase in Northern Tanzania
| dc.contributor.author | Mapunda, Hellen | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-22T14:12:01Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-08 | |
| dc.description | SDG -2 : Zero Hunger SDG -12 : Responsible Consumption and Production | |
| dc.description.abstract | Banana production contributes significantly to sustaining food security of the rural communities in Tanzania. However, yieldsin smallholder banana fields only represent 10% of the production potential due to recurrent drought stress, declining soil fertility, and increasing pests’ pressure. Many plant species, including bananas, benefit from the presence of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Previous research on banana plants inoculated with AMF has shown encouraging outcomes. However, numerous studies have examined this under laboratory and screen house conditions. In light of this, field-based validation remains limited. In this context, two experiments were conducted in the northern highlands of Tanzania. The first experiment examined the effect of inoculating banana plantlets (var. Williams and Grand Naine) with three AMF strains (Rhizophagus intraradices, Rhizophagus irregularis and Rhizophagus clarus) on plant growth under nursery conditions. The results indicate that there were significant (p<0.05) and positive effects of AMF strains inoculation on banana plant growth parameters, with Rhizophagus intraradices recording the promising results compared to the control treatment. In the second experiment validated the effects of AMF strains with respect to growth and yield characteristics. The results show that Rhizophagus intraradices outperformed the other two strains. Overall, the results of this study indicate that AMF can be a useful addition to banana nursery management practices, resulting in improved growth and development during the critical weaning and hardening phases and, as well as improved field establishing success. These findings may have positive consequences in banana production in the long-term. The findings could also aid in optimizing the conventional banana production techniques by integrating AMF inoculants for enhanced banana production. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.nm-aist.ac.tz/handle/123456789/3647 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | NM-AIST | |
| dc.title | Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Banana Growth during Hardening Phase and Field Phase in Northern Tanzania | |
| dc.type | Thesis |