Who among us has not already heard the expression 'tired soil' used to mention a degraded soil whose agricultural production has fallen sharply?

This degradation may result from direct or indirect factors, and the processes involved may be physical, chemical and biological (including the reduction of soil microorganisms). These microorganisms are the main agents of the soil’s biochemical activity, establishing important interactions between soil components (particularly in the rhizosphere) and plants.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) represent a significant component in the ecosystems, since they exert a great influence on the growth and adaptation of the plants to biotic and abiotic stresses, resulting in the strengthening of their defenses. From the association between the AMF and the roots, mycorrhizas occur that have marked effects on the plants, namely, root development, optimization of water relations, improvement of nutrient absorption and increase of production. Studies on agricultural soils with different degradation situations have demonstrated the importance of mycorrhizas as recuperative agents and optimizers of agricultural crops.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of Mycoshell Tabs in the vegetative development of apple trees in the 1st year, applications in potted trees at the time of transplantation were carried out at INIAV (National Station of Fruticulture Vieira Natividade). In February 2019, 6 plants of each modality (control and Mycoshell Tabs) were unpacked and destroyed for quantification of biometric parameters.

Results: At the end of the first year with the application of Mycoshell Tabs we obtained larger and more balanced plants due to a marked increase in vegetative growth, both at the root level and at aerial level. There was an increase in the number of main roots (+ 31.9%) and average weight of the branches (+ 18.1%) in relation to the control.