Objectives and goals

Dendromorphic mycorrhizal fungi (DMF) develop symbiotic relationships with most plants. They improve nutrition, protect against pathogens and heavy metals, reduce salinity and drought stress and improve soil structure.

Cultivated soils are considered poor in the presence of DMF, due to agricultural practices such as the use of fertilizers, agrochemicals and frequent tillage. Inoculation of soils with DMF ensures rapid colonization, but large-scale application of commercial vaccines is limited by cost. Alternatively, the production of the vaccines on site, by the growers themselves, has been proposed. This idea has been successfully applied mainly in horticulture in the USA. The adoption of such a new innovative practice contributes to improving the sustainability of soil ecosystems and adapting to agriculture with reduced inputs (water, fertilizers, agrochemicals). They allow satisfactory yields with lower concentrations of nutrients, and improve the soil structure.