Optimization of a Pre-Sowing Treatment of Corn Seeds with Low-Frequency Pulse Electric Field to Improve the Germination and Development of Seedlings

Abstract

Corn is one of the key forage crops in agriculture. However, corn production in Russia still remains behind of its demand, so the search and development of technologies allowing to improve its yield are very relevant. Pre-sowing treatment of seeds of corn and other crops with physical fields provides stimulation of the growth and development of plants, but its efficiency depends on some parameters including duration of such treatment. The laboratory evaluation of the effect of a pre-planting treatment of corn seeds with low-frequency pulse electric field for 1–9 h on their germination, average lengths of the coleoptile and radicle root, and the number of seminal roots made it possible to determine the optimum exposure time (4 h) providing a significant improvement of germination (+26.7% of the control) and increase in the coleoptile length (+21.2% of the control). The maximum negative effect was revealed for a 5-h exposure; it resulted in a significant reduction of the coleoptile and radicle root lengths (421.7 and 16.3% of the control, respectively), as well as the reduction of the average number of seminal roots (4.8% of the control).