Germination and phytosanitary state of flax and wheat seeds after electron beam irradiation

Abstract

Radiation technologies are widely used in agriculture to accelerate the sprouting of plants, increase crop yields, improve product quality, and destroy pathogenic microflora. This article assesses the effect of treatment with accelerated electrons in various doses on the germination of wheat and flax seeds, as well as on their phytosanitary state. It was established that the most efficient dose for flax variety Severny is 10 Gy, since this dose not only showed the most considerable increase in the germination rate by 38% but also decreased the number of fungi in seeds by 15 % and reduced the average diameter of the remaining colonies by 30% or more. For spring wheat variety Novosibirskaya 29, however, the doses which would be able to significantly reduce the number and the diameter of colonies without causing the inhibition of seed germination were not found.