Static magnetic field stimulates growth of maize seeds

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that static magnetic fields, especially at 150 mT, significantly enhance maize seed germination and growth, suggesting magnetopriming as a promising physical treatment in agricultural biotechnology.

Contribution

The research expands the range of magnetic field intensities tested and provides detailed analysis of background magnetic influences, confirming the effectiveness of SMF in maize seed growth enhancement.

Findings

Maximum growth increase of 108.9% at 150 mT

Significant growth stimulation at multiple SMF intensities

Background magnetic fields do not confound results

Abstract

The physical pre-treatment of seeds is a growing field of research in agricultural biotechnology. Among its possibilities, magnetopriming of seeds has received increasing attention in the last two decades. Inspired by remarkable reports of the literature on the effects of static magnetic fields (SMF) on maize seeds, we performed similar experiments, though expanding the range of SMF up to 350 mT, higher than most of the reported studies. With exposure durations of 1 h, we tested 7 different SMF intensities, from 50 to 350 mT at increments of 50 mT. We challenged our findings with an exhaustive analysis of the background static and alternated magnetic fields inside the stove where the germinations took place, in order to rule out background fields as a confounding variable. We found a maximum effect of 108.9 % increase (more than double) in the average total length of plantules at 150 mT, at the 10th day of germination. All other intensities, except 350 mT, also induced a significant growth stimulation. While not seeming to represent a determinant factor, our analysis calls the attention to the possible relevance of different conditions in different levels and zones of standard stoves. Our findings are in line with numerous studies pointing to magnetopriming of maize seeds as a novel, viable and reproducible physical treatment for the enhancement of germination.