Effect of low frequency magnetic field (LFMF) on seed quality of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seeds

Xian-Zong XIA,Roman HOŁUBOWICZ,Leszek KUBISZ,Gregorio PADULA

doi:10.15835/nbha48311918

Abstract

In recent years, the application of magnetism in agriculture has been paid more and more attention to, especially in the field of its treatment on the seed germination and physiological indexes of seedlings grown out of them. In this experiment, the radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seeds of two cultivars ‘Carmen’ and ‘Szkarłatna z Białym Końcem’ were treated by 20 mT low frequency magnetic field (LFMF) for 10, 30 and 60 minutes, respectively. The MF was generated from a Viofor JPS Delux - a patented device adopted from the routine medical magnetic therapy. By measuring their seed germination rate (energy), seedling length and fresh weight, it was proved that LFMF improved the seed quality of both radish cultivars and the best results were received for the longest exposing time. The received that way results were similar as reported for priming of radish seeds. The developed treatment has a great potential in replacing traditional seed priming methods. However, for its commercial use, for selected crops and cultivars, further research is still needed.

Highlights

With the development of modern science and technology, magnetism has attracted the attention of scientists
The MF was generated from a Viofor JPS Delux - a patented device adopted from the routine medical magnetic therapy. By measuring their seed germination rate, seedling length and fresh weight, it was proved that low frequency magnetic field (LFMF) improved the seed quality of both radish cultivars and the best results were received for the longest exposing time
It was very similar to the results reported for priming of radish seeds (Li, 2010; Maroufi et al, 2011; Song et al, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

With the development of modern science and technology, magnetism has attracted the attention of scientists. Many scholars have done a lot of exploratory work on the magnetic field (MF) treatment of seeds of various crops and its biological effects They have proved that the application of MF to crop seeds is an effective way to increase crop yield (Qi et al, 2015; Ren et al, 2015). The use of artificial MF treatment on the seeds did improve their germination and vigour, promote their emergences, modify some botanical characters and increase final yield and its quality of plants grown out from them. The purpose of the experiment was to find out, if LFMF could improve both seeds germination rate and seedlings’ length and weight the same way as during their priming

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusions