Effect of Magnetized Irrigation Water and Seeds on the Production of OKRA (Hibiscus esculentus)
Shaker Babiker AHMED *
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan.
Amir Bakheit SAEED
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
Awad Mohmed ALHASSAN
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Very recently special magnetic devices have been developed and used to magnetize irrigation water and plant seeds. Such magnetic treatments were reported to play a great role in increasing the germination rate of seeds, reducing soil salinity and consequently resulting in increasing yield. The objectives of the study to improve crop productivity by using magnetic technologies. A split plot experimental design was used for growing two varieties of okra (Hibiscus esculentus). The treatments included: non-magnetized water + non magnetized seeds (NMW+NMS), non-magnetized water + magnetized seeds (NMW+MS), magnetized water + non magnetized seeds (MW+NMS), magnetized water + magnetized seeds (MW+MS). Each treatment was replicated three times. The parameters considered included: number of leaves per plant, leaf length, plant height, plants density and yield. There was a significant difference (p <0.05) between treatments, the combination of (MW) and (MS) gave higher of leaves per plant, plant density, and plant height and leaf length. There was a significant difference (p <0.05) in yield between treatments (MW) recorded increasing in yield by 50% as compared to (NMW); (MW) + (MS) recorded increase in yield by 24% as compared to (NMW); (MS) record increasing in yield by 18% as compared to (NMS) when both were irrigated by (NMW), the combination of (MW) and (MS) gave higher yields for both okra varieties (25.5 and 35.5 Kg/ha). It was concluded that magnetizing water may lead to better crop establishment and further improvement could be achieved by magnetizing the seeds.
Keywords: Magnetic devices, magnetic technologies, magnetizing water, crop productivity, okra