Studies on Potential of Magnetic Field Applications for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

As per the reports published by Ministry of Water Resources GOI, increasing salinity of soil in Punjab is becoming threat to sustainability. There is an urgent need to reduce the rate of salt accumulation and improve the leaching of salts below root zone, make use of low-quality saline water and at the same time to increase the rate of germination of seeds and crop yield without leading to detrimental effects on environment.Present study is aimed around use of electromagnetic energy for the change in the saline behaviour of water, for the investigations a characteristic sample of saline water of EC = 4000 μS/cm was magnetized by passing through a pipe fitted with 4 pairs of electromagnets, at flow rate of 2L, 3L & 4L per minute, with varying magnetic field strengths of electromagnet, by varying applied voltage of 2V and 4V. Surface Tension of differently magnetized saline water was observed by Stalagmometer drop count method. The rate of accumulation of salts in terms of EC of soil at 30 cm, 60 cm & 90 cm depths in soil was compared by irrigating soil in two 1m long vertical columns with saline water and Magnetically Treated Saline Water (MTSW) for 5 irrigations.Effect of magnetically treated normal and saline water and Magnetic Field (MF) was also observed on seed germination and plant growth of Vigna radiata. It was observed that not only MF in soil but also magnetically treated normal & saline water have facilitated the growth which can be attributed to increased absorption of water and nutrients if treated magnetically.