| Summary: | Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. ENGLISH SUMMARY: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi facilitate the uptake of nutrients, improve growth and alleviate drought stress in grapevines. Consequently, AM fungal root colonisation contributes to the optimum performance of grapevines. It is for this reason that young grapevines are sometimes inoculated with commercial AM fungal strains to reduce environmental stresses during transplant. In the past, soil fumigation has often been considered as a prerequisite for soil conditioning with commercial AM fungal strains. However, grape growers opting to inoculate with these fungal strains will have to do so in unfumigated soils, since the use of fumigants in South African agricultural soils is currently being phased out. Since little is known about the nature and scope of indigenous AM fungi that may be present in SA vineyard soils, it is difficult to predict the grapevine's response to artificial inoculation in soils already containing adequate concentrations of these fungi. In the first part of the study, commercially available AM inocula were tested under field conditions that would prevail on a typical farm. This entailed measuring vine growth, nutrition, drought stress resistance and percentage root colonisation, over two consecutive seasons, from the onset of planting new commercial grapevines. The field trial carried out at Groenland, a commercial farm in the Stellenbosch Region. Merlot grafted onto 101-14 Mgt, 110 Richter (110 R) and 99 Richter (99 R), was planted in December 1998. These rootstocks were selected to accommodate different soil forms: 101-14 Mgt and 110 R on a Westleigh soil form, which was ridged and 99 R on an unridged Fernwood soil form. Vine roots were inoculated during planting with different AM inocula, i.e. Biocult®, Vaminoc" and Glomus sp. 1054. One treatment was left uninoculated and treated with a combination of the fungicides Benlate" (active ingredient: benomyl) and Rovral Flo® (active ingredient: iprodione). The control received ...
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