Pulsed electric field effects on the germination rate of yellow nutsedge seeds

Abstract

Pulsed electric field to treat seeds is an alternate method to the chemical treatment to control the weeds in the field. In this study yellow nutsedge seeds were subjected to series of repetitive pulsed electric field and the germination rate of the seeds after the treatment with respect to the non-treated seeds were studied. The seeds used in the experiment were air dried before they were exposed to repetitive pulsed electric fields. The pulse generator is built in-house, with an average pulse width of few microseconds and peak voltage of up-to25KV. In this study only the amplitude of the pulse and the repetition rate was used as the parameters on the germination rate of the seeds. The data obtained from the seeds, which are exposed to series of Pulsed Electric Fields resulted in the decrease in the percent seedling emergence for Yellow Nutsedge seeds in comparison to the non-exposed seeds. A replicated study and better understanding of this experiment may lead to a method for better non chemical weed control. This study intends to present the effects of pulsed electric fields on the seeds of yellow nutsedge and establish the feasibility to use such an approach for weed control, to decrease their germination rate in the field.