Effect of 1.0 Hz weak electric fields on the growth of potato tuber

Abstract

Potatoes are a very important vegetable crops in Egypt both for local consumption and for export. Potato crop is suffering from destructive bacterial wilt disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. Control of potato brown rot has proven to be a serious task. Chemical control was tried without much success with risk of hazardous effects on Human and environment. Recently, a new study indicated that the exposure to 1.0 Hz positive electric fields for one hour caused significant inhibition in bacterial growth of R. Solanacearum. However, the environmentally friendly new method Raises the importance to study the effect on healthy potato plants. In this work the effects of 1.0 Hz electric field on the physiological properties of healthy potato plant is studied. Results indicated significant increase in shoot, root and tuber dry weights by 104.9%, 210.5% and 48.7% respectively and increase of tuber N, P, K+ and Ca2+ content along with carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, ascorbic acid. However, no change in tuber per plant number was detected. It can be concluded from the present findings that the new technique of treatment of this pest is a safe modality, environmentally friendly without residuals after treatment and can increase the productivity of healthy plant.