European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

In Morocco, forests are under severe pressure because of the intense needs of the population for land used for food crops and wood for domestic or industrial use. To this over-exploitation is added climatic and edaphic aridifications which accentuate the phenomenon of erosion, the degradation and the decrease of soil fertility. Consequently, alternative strategies based on the use of appropriate plants are needed to restore and / or to rehabilitate degraded lands and to improve crop production.
In many countries, Bituminaria bituminosa is used; this shrub has attracted considerable attention related to its important role in nitrogen fertilization, soil protection against erosion and significant productivity improvement (Yates et al.,2009).
Also, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of Bituminaria-rhizobia symbiosis on associated plants such Atriplex nummularia.
So, a trial was conducted under-greenhouse at the Faculty of Sciences of Meknes (Morocco); there were pots with plants of Bituminaria bituminosa and Atriplex nummularia grown alone (monoculture) and others with the association of the two species.
At the flowering stage of the plants, the growth as well as the nodulation parameters including respectively height and dry biomass and number and dry biomass of nodules was evaluated.
The results obtained revealed that Atriplex nummularia benefited from its association with Bituminaria bituminosa as its biomass was high in comparison to its monoculture. Besides that, the growth and the nodulation parameters of B.bituminosa were improved in mixed culture.