La inoculación aérea con hongos endofíticos afecta la producción y calidad de Lolium rigidum y Trifolium subterraneum en condiciones de campo

Abstract

Lolium rigidum and T. subterraneum, pasture species from Mediterranean areas, produce abundant and high-qualityforage. Like other plant species, they present a high diversity of endophytic mycoflora growing inside. In the present work,the hypothesis of a significant effect of the endophytic species on forage production (herbage dry weight) and quality (crudeprotein, neutral and acid detergent fibre and lignin) was tested under field conditions. Thus, plants of two different ages wereinoculated with each one of 6 endophytic species. Five replicates per treatment were considered, including control treatmentwithout any endophyte inoculation. Two months and a half after transplanting, dry weight of herbage was determined, as wellas several forage quality parameters. Results highlighted the endophytic fungi influence on forage production and quality. Inboth pasture hosts, the endophyte E202 (Chaetospaheronema sp) increased either herbage yield or nutritive value. Insummary, the present work showed that the use of endophytes could be an interesting way for the improvement of forageproduction and its nutritive value.