Abstract
Cold plasma technology has received significant attention in agriculture due to its effect on the seeds and plants of important cultivars, such as wheat. Due to climate change, wherein increasing temperatures and droughts are frequent, it is important to consider novel approaches to agricultural production. As increased dormancy levels in wheat are correlated with high temperatures and drought, improving the germination and root growth of wheat seeds could offer new possibilities for seed sowing. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of direct (glow) and indirect (afterglow) radio-frequency (RF) oxygen plasma treatments on the germination of two winter wheat varieties: Apache and Bezostaya 1. The influence of plasma treatment on seed surface morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy, and it was observed that direct plasma treatment resulted in a high etching and nanostructuring of the seed surface. The effect of plasma treatment on germination was evaluated by measuring the germination rate, counting the number of roots and the length of the root system, and the fresh weight of seedlings. The results of this study indicate that the response of seeds to direct and indirect plasma treatment may be variety-dependent, as differences between the two wheat varieties were observed.
Highlights
Cold plasma technology has a wide range of biological applications, of which decontamination, sterilization, improved seed germination, plant growth, and improved resistance to abiotic stress are of high interest for its application in the agricultural industry [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The ions from the plasma are recombined on the wall of the plasma reactor before reaching the seed surface; this results in lower etching and reduces the thermal heating caused by ion bombardment compared to the glow plasma regime [20,21]
The results of this study serve as a stepping stone for future research in plasma agriculture, as comparisons of varieties of the same plant species could provide important clues for how plasma technology affects seeds and seedlings
Summary
Cold plasma technology has a wide range of biological applications, of which decontamination, sterilization, improved seed germination, plant growth, and improved resistance to abiotic stress are of high interest for its application in the agricultural industry [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. To control plant diseases and overcome unfavorable growth conditions, developing new technologies to improve the resistance of crops to diseases and various abiotic stresses with a minimal negative impact on the environment is essential. Numerous research articles have investigated the effects of cold plasma treatment on improved wheat seed germination, growth, changes in metabolism, and stress resistance [7,8,10,11,12,13,14]. It is very hard to compare results from different studies
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