Beteween 14th and 17th September 2010 on the bahalf of Mykoflor I had a pleasure to visit sunny Spain again. This time I started my “mycorrhiza travel” at Ciudad Real city in a Castilla - La Mancha Province. On plantations belonging to leading Spanish forestry company ENCE under supervision of National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (Forest Research Centre) I have established interesting field trail with ectomycorrhizal inoculum made by Mykoflor. On two sites experimental fields were made where plants of eight poplar clones (grown for energy) were treated with mycorrhizal inoculum under conditions of irrigation and without irrigation. Besides of the fact that treatment was done on 14th September temperature was higher than 30 centigrade what can promote rapid development of mycelium and effective inoculation of growing roots by mycorrhizal fungi.

It will be very interesting to paying visit in those plantations in two years time and knowing if there is any clonal response to mycorrhizal fungi. We sincerely believe that the response will be at least such intense as we have observed at Italian poplar growing at Mr. Antonio Ramoz Fenadez’s plantation of poplar in Santa Fe (Andalusia). Presented pictures should be a final piece of evidence even for the most skeptical unbelievers of the sense for ectomycorrhizal fungi application in agriculture and forestry. Under conditions of long-lasting and severe water deficit non-irrigated and treated by Mykoflor inoculum in 2007 poplar harvested first time in the spring 2009 and measured on 16th September showed an average height of 740 cm (the highest stem was 1190 cm high) while weight of fresh matter of single plant was 18.5 kg (the heaviest plant had a weight of 28 kg) what was equal to very high biomass yield 336 tons ha-1 whereas the same parameters for control plants (not irrigated, not inoculated) was height of 230 cm weight of single plant 4.8 kg (was is equal to 57.6 tons ha-1) . At the moment chemical analyses of biomass are being done the same as mycological analyses of sampled roots.

Results achieved at the plantation owned by Mr. Antonio Ramoz Fenadez inspired Research Agricultural Institute in Granada (Andalusia) to start research programme of Mykoflor inocula studies. The experiment was established on 16th September 2010 and we are almost sure that results will be comparable with those gained in Santa Fe and that soon application of ectomycorrhizal inocula will be a standard practice in Spanish energy poplar plantations. We are trusting that such a practice enables to break a deep relation between irrigation and bioenergy production in Spain leading to more sustainable and economically sound method of biomass production basing on saving a very precious natural resources i.e. water.