ISSN 2375-1185
African Journal of Agronomy ISSN 2375-1177 Vol. 6 (5), pp. 383-392, May, 2018. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Effect of electric treatment on germination, seedling growth and water uptake in chickpea seed
*Kovind Nisar1, Kumar Sangma1 and Singh Rani2
1Department of Agrophysics, Faculty of Life Science, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
2Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Assam University, Assam, India.
Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 02 July, 2016
Abstract
The chickpea (Cicer arietinum) seeds were exposed to the electric field at 270, 470, 670, 870 and 1070 V/cm for 15 min duration at a constant temperature (13°C). The effect of electric treatment on germination, seedling growth and water uptake was investigated. Electrically treated seeds have shown a delay in water absorption as compared to the control (unexposed); hence, there was an increase in mean germination time and transition time. Maximum delay was observed at 470 V/cm with 15 min exposure. Rate of water uptake was calculated experimentally. It increased at all field values. A new water uptake model was used to find water content absorbed by the seed at any instant as a function of the electric field at a constant temperature (13°C). Among the various treatments, 470 V/cm for 15 min yielded the peak performance (for root and shoot lengths).
Key words: Germination time, electric-treatment, water-uptake model, ferroelectric effect.