Mycorrhiza: A Potential Application for Increased Crop Productivity in a Degraded Soil

Mycorrhiza is obtained from two Greek expressions, namely: mykes (fungus) and rhiza (root). In otherwise, mycorrhiza means fungus-root as coined by Frank in 1885. So, mycorrhiza association is defined as the mutual relationship between fungus and plant root in which the fungus derive carbon from its host plant while the host plants obtain minerals from the fungus. Mycorrhizas are found in different biomes ranging from high latitudes and altitudes, deserts, lowland tropical forest to aquatic ecosystems. It is a known fact that several plants cannot thrive in their natural habitats without this mutualism, as 95-99 % of all plant species have been estimated to belong to genera that generally form mycorrhizas. It is only three families of plant that do not enter into mutual relationship with fungus. These families are as follows: Cyperaceae, Chenopodiaceae, and Brassicaceae. There are now seven types of mycorrhizas among which are arbuscular (AM) endomycorrhiza, ericoid endomycorrhizas, arbutoid endomycorrhizas, monotropoid endomycorrhizas, orchidaeous endomycorrhizas, ectomycorhizas and ectendomycorrhizas. The benefits of mycorrhiza association cannot be overemphasized as studies have shown that it improves nutrient supply of carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen to both plant and fungus that might not normally be made available to plant roots in large amount. It also enhances the performance of plant growing in soils with high amounts of heavy metals and water absorption of desert plants.