Authors : S.L. Laware* and V.A. Pawar
Page Nos : 73-84
Description :
Zn is a crucial micronutrient involved in various metabolic processes, enzyme activities and enhancing nodulation in leguminous plants. Its deficiency leads to various yield losses. Hence, there is need to use zinc fertilizers to improve growth and productivity. Recently, nanofertilizers are gaining importance due to controlled release of nutrients on
demand at a targeted site. Even though lot of work has been undertaken in this area, still there is uncertainty on inhibitory or stimulatory effect of NPs. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the influence of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on Chickpea germination and seedling growth. FESEM was used to define the shape and size of ZnO NPs produced by hydrothermal method. Seeds were primed in varied concentrations (4-16 μg ml-1 of ZnO NPs prepared in 10% starch) and kept for germination in laboratory conditions and sown in soil. Seeds primed with lower concentrations of ZnO NPs (8 μg ml-1 ) in laboratory conditions and (12 μg ml-1) in pot experiments accelerated growth parameters (shoot length, root length, root to shoot ratio, fresh and dry weight) whereas higher concentration (16 μg ml-1) negatively affected growth compared with control. Enhanced growth at lower concentration enables use of NPs as a potent nanofertilizer in future; also evidence of deleterious effect at higher concentration is observed, indicating concentration dependent response of NPs to plant growth.
