Impacts of Nano-Ferric Oxide on Morpho-Physiological Traits of Durum Wheat

Abstract

Nanotechnology has shown a promising potential to encourage sustainable agriculture in the recent years. Iron (Fe) is an essential element for plant growth and development which absence in the soil negatively effects the plant health. We proposed that the application of nano-ferric oxide at certain level would promote the overall performance of durum wheat. Thus, in the recent study, we evaluated the two durum wheat genotypes (Preco and Kronos) under three levels of nano-ferric oxide (0 ppm, 20 ppm and 50 ppm). The experiment was conducted in the Botany Laboratory of University of Lahore, Sargodha campus during 2017-2018 with a completely randomized block design. Nano-Ferric oxide particles were synthesized by the chemical reduction of ferric chloride hexahydrate (FeCl3.6H2O) using onion extract. The size of nanoparticles was determined by Zeta Particle Analyzer. The results of the observed traits revealed highly significant differences among treatments and genotypes. The results shown that observed traits improved under 20 ppm concentration of nano-ferric oxide but decreased under 50 ppm concentration. At 20 ppm treatment, variety Preco showed the highest plant height (109.56 cm), root length (19.42 cm), spike length (12.48 cm), awns length (19.83 cm), internode length (19.12 cm), number of leaves (14.55), number of spikelets (23.77), number of awns (55.88), thousand-grain weight (49.49 g), relative water contents (94.81), glaucousness (9.52) and pubescence (8.88). Overall, results suggested that ferric oxide nanoparticles improve the growth of durum wheat and can be used for crops improvement in future.