Mycorrhizae: the underground network your crop is missing

Look at a plant's roots and you see maybe half a metre of reach. But in healthy soil, that plant is connected to something much bigger: a web of fungal threads spreading many metres in every direction. These fungi are called mycorrhizae (say: my-cor-ai-za).

A fair deal, older than farming

Mycorrhizae and plants have worked together for millions of years. The deal is simple:

• The plant gives the fungus a little sugar from its leaves.
• The fungus gives the plant water and nutrients — especially phosphorus — collected from far beyond the root zone.

The fungal threads are far thinner than any root, so they slip into spaces roots cannot enter. One teaspoon of healthy soil can hold metres of these threads.

What this means in your field

Crops connected to mycorrhizae typically show:

• Better drought tolerance. The network keeps supplying water between irrigations — a real difference in a low-rain year.
• Better phosphorus uptake. Much of the DAP you apply gets locked in the soil. Mycorrhizae unlock and deliver it.
• Stronger, healthier plants. Better-fed plants stand up better to stress and disease.
• Better soil structure. The threads glue soil into soft crumbs that hold water and air.

Why your soil may have lost them

Mycorrhizae are living things. Years of heavy fungicide use, deep tillage, and long fallow periods reduce them badly. Fields farmed hard with chemicals often have almost none left — which is one reason chemical-heavy fields need more and more inputs.

How to bring them back

• Inoculate. A mycorrhizal product (like our Mycorrhizal Bio-Fertilizer) puts live spores next to young roots at sowing or transplanting — the one time in the season when the partnership forms.
• Go easy on soil-applied fungicides near the application time.
• Keep living roots in the ground as much of the year as possible — the fungi feed on them.

One note: mustard-family crops (mustard, cabbage, cauliflower) do not partner with mycorrhizae, so save the inoculant for your other crops.