Influence of pulsed magnetic field on yield, its components and quality traits in maize (zea mays L.)

A field experiment was conducted to study the on effect of pulsed magnetic field(PMF) on maize inbred BML-6 during Kharif,2012, at Seed Research and Technology Centre, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad. Seeds were exposed to pulsed magnetic fields of varying frequencies viz., 1Hz, 10Hz, 50Hz and 100 Hz with intensity of 1500nT, sine wave for a period of 5 hrs per day for 15 days. The study revealed that 50Hz frequency was found to be most optimal combination which showed the best response for most of the parameters studied viz., cob length, number of seeds row-1, number of rows cob-1, cob weight and grainyield kg-ha. Significant increase in root length, shoot length and seed vigour was observed in all the treatments compared to control. The results suggested that pretreatment of PMF plays an importantrole in improvement of crop productivity of maize through the enhancement of protein, mineral accumulation and enzyme activitiesin seed which leads to increase the growth and yield.