Senna seed germination and seedling growth stimulation by the use of gamma rays and electric shock

Yasamen F. Salloom; Hussein A. Almrani; Mohammed S. Taher

Authors

Yasamen F. Salloom University of Baghdad, College of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Design, Al-Jadiriya, Baghdad, Iraq. Author
Hussein A. Almrani University of Baghdad, College of Agriculture, Unit of Medical and Aromatic Plants Research, Al-Jadiriya, Baghdad, Iraq. Author
Mohammed S. Taher University of Baghdad, College of Agriculture, Unit of Medical and Aromatic Plants Research, Al-Jadiriya, Baghdad, Iraq. Author

Keywords:

Senna,, Electric shocks,, Germination,, Gamma rays,, Seedling.

Abstract

The experiment, which examined the effects of electric shock and irradiation on indicators of senna seed germination and seedling growth, was conducted in labs and fields owned by the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Unit of the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences at the University of Baghdad in 2019. The experiment used an RCBD design with three replications and included six treatments (T1), seed electric shock with 4 and 6 Ampere (T2, T3), and seed irradiation with 10, 20, and 30 Gry (T4, T5, and T6). The findings revealed that the T4 and T3 treatments had the highest germination rates, wet weights of seedlings, and dry weights of roots, respectively, of 33.3, 32%, 0.225, 0.220 g, and 0.178, 0.167 g, while T2 and T4 had the highest dry weights of seedlings (0.0450, 0.0420 g, respectively). The highest levels of chlorophyll (SPAD) were found in the T2 and T3 treatments (44.17 and 43.7, respectively), indicating the importance of gamma rays and electric shock in promoting seed germination and seedling growth.