EFFECT OF LOW-INTENSITY LASER IRRADIATION ON FIELD PERFORMANCE OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L.) EMERGENCE, PHENOLOGICAL AND SEED QUALITY CHARACTERISTICS
M. HASAN, Marlia M. Hanafiah, Ziad Aeyad Taha, Intsar H. H. Al-Hilfy
Abstract
Laser application in agriculture has attracted much interest due to the improvement of plant characteristics after laser pre-sowing seed treatment. In this study, Zea mays L. seeds were pre-irradiated by a single exposure to blue laser at different intensities (2 and 4 mW/cm 2 ) and different irradiation times of 45, 65, 85, and 105s. The field emergence characteristics (i.e., emergence %, mean emergence time, emergence index, vigor index, growth parameters, and seed quality) of laser-induced Zea mays L. seeds were determined and compared with those of unirradiated seeds. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was employed with three replications. The growth characteristics of the seeds exposed to laser for 85s showed significant improvements in terms of the seedling length and leaf number. Additionally, there were observable alterations in the seed emergence percentage (91.66%), emergence index (7.25), and vigor index (520.80) in the seeds irradiated for 85s at a laser intensity of 4 mW/cm 2 . In seeds irradiated for 85 s, both the oil and starch contents were increased by 6.33% and 73.11%, respectively. On the other hand, there was an increase in the protein content of maize seeds (18%) with increased laser intensity. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated that 4 mW/cm 2 of blue laser and the irradiation period of 85s enhanced the emergence process of maize plants.