Is arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal addition beneficial to potato systems? A meta-analysis

The application of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has been reported to confer multiple agronomic benefits to crop plants including cereals, vegetables, and fruit trees, as well as to improve soil structure and health. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate whether AM fungal addition enhances potato yield. We further examined whether several experimental conditions (type of experiment, inoculation method, and source of AM fungi) and potato cultivar may explain the outcomes. We calculated the effect sizes of seven plant parameters by including a total of 106 independent pot and field experimental studies from 37 peer reviewed publications. Our results show that the addition of AM fungi has an overall positive effect on all potato plant parameters included in our analyses except for aboveground plant biomass. Potato cultivar was the main significant moderator explaining our findings, with some cultivars benefiting more from AM fungal presence than others. Our findings agree with several other global meta-analyses reporting positive effects of AM fungi on other important crops and highlights the potential application of these fungal symbionts in potato agro-ecosystems.