Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Can Improve the Water Use and Phosphorus Acquisition Efficiencies of Aerobically Grown Rice

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorWatts‐Williams, S.J.
dc.contributor.authorGill, A.R.
dc.contributor.authorNguyen, T.D.
dc.contributor.authorTavakkoli, E.
dc.contributor.authorJewell, N.
dc.contributor.authorBrien, C.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractMost rice production is conducted in flooded (anaerobic) soil conditions, but aerobic rice cultivation presents several potential benefits: increased grain water use efficiency (gWUE), reduced methane emissions, and minimised loss of phosphorus (P). Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are more effective at colonising and functioning in rice under aerobic soil conditions, and this rice‐AM fungi association could increase both gWUE and P acquisition efficiency (PAE). We used a precision irrigation platform to apply watering treatments (60% or 80% of soil field capacity) throughout the experiment. Four commercial Australian rice varieties were grown with or without inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis, and with addition of P fertiliser at 10 or 25 mg P kg–1 soil. Plants were grown to maturity (134–188 days after planting), after which grain yield, plant water use, gWUE, and PAE were determined. Overall, R. irregularis inoculation increased gWUE in all four rice varieties (by a mean of 14.4%), and increased grain yield and PAE in two varieties. Grain yields were primarily constrained by low water availability (mean 48.4% reduction), but P availability also limited yield in two varieties. Of the four, Topaz showed the greatest response to AM fungal inoculation, with increased qWUE and PAE. There is potential for AM fungal inoculation to increase the water use and P acquisition efficiencies of aerobically grown rice. However, the extent of these benefits depends on the specific rice variety, which highlights the importance of variety selection in transitioning to aerobic rice production in temperate regions and in enhancing the resilience of rice cultivation to climate change.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityStephanie J. Watts-Williams, Alison R. Gill, Thi Diem Nguyen, Ehsan Tavakkoli, Nathaniel Jewell, Chris Brien
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 2025; 4(1):e70040-1-e70040-9
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/sae2.70040
dc.identifier.issn2767-035X
dc.identifier.issn2767-035X
dc.identifier.orcidGill, A.R. [0000-0003-4366-6710]
dc.identifier.orcidNguyen, T.D. [0000-0002-5035-4793]
dc.identifier.orcidTavakkoli, E. [0000-0002-2676-6018]
dc.identifier.orcidBrien, C. [0000-0003-0581-1817]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/143984
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE210100908
dc.rights© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment published by Global Initiative of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.70040
dc.subjectaerobic rice; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; phosphorus acquisition efficiency; water use efficiency
dc.titleArbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Can Improve the Water Use and Phosphorus Acquisition Efficiencies of Aerobically Grown Rice
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
hdl_143984.pdf
Size:
1.03 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published version
Download

Collections

Research Outputs