Field experiment was conducted to study the
effect of arbuscularmycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and poultry
manure (PM) on the growth and nutrients uptake by maize.
The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block
design with 6 levels of PM in tones ha-1 (0, 4, 6, 8, 10, & 12) and 2 levels of AMF; (inoculated , +AMF and un-inoculated, -AMF) + recommended dose of NPK (RD NPK) chemical fertilizer; making 13 treatment combinations replicated 3 times. Plant growth (height, leaf area, root volume, shoot, and root dry weight biomass), root colonization (RC %) and uptakes of N, P, & K were assessed after six weeks growing period of maize. Inoculated plants and RD NPK recorded higher values for plant growth biometrics and nutrients uptake compared to un-inoculated plants.Poultry manure application enhanced RC % and AMF spore density with maximum value (43.00±38.70 %, 17.33±1.202 g-1 soil) at 12 t PM ha-1. Applying 12 t PM+AMF produced plants with the highest shoot and root biomass weights (199.00±3.055, 9.57±0.713 g) that were comparable to RD NPK
(194.33±2.404, 9.27±0.376 g). Increase in shoot dry biomass
due to AMF revealed, 19.3%, 20%, 12.2%, 7.2%, 7.9%, and
15.2% over 0, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 t PM ha-1 of un-inoculated
plants. Applying 12 t PM+AMF recorded higher shoot dry
biomass by 2.3% over RD NPK. RC % correlated positively
with shoot biomass (R2= 0.753). Maximum N, P, & K uptake
were recorded at 12 t PM+AMF compared to all the
treatments. It could be concluded that PM have potentially
stimulated AMF symbiosis, enhanced maize growth and
nutrients uptake under normal field condition compared to
chemical fertilizer, thus could be considered for maize
production