The effect of seed pretreatment with magnetic field on some morpho-physiological characteristics of Niger under drought stress conditions

In order to protect environment and improve plant growth under drought stress conditions, an experiment was conducted as factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications on Niger )Guizotia abyssinica (L.F) Cass( seed at the research greenhouse of Shahrekord University in 2015. Physically pre-treatment as a seed placement in different magnetic field intensities including 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200mT (at 5 minutes time) as the first factor and  irrigation intervals at three levels of 2, 4 and 6 days as the second factor were considered. The effect of magnetic field, drought stress and their interaction were significant on all of the evaluated characteristics. The maximum root dry weight in 150mT field intensity under 2 days irrigation intervals, the maximum leaf dry weight, root length and number of flower in 100mT field intensity under 2 and 6 days irrigation intervals, respectively, the maximum content of chlorophyll a and (a+b) and carotenoids in 50mT field intensity under 6 days irrigation intervals, the maximum content of chlorophyll b in 150mT field intensity under 4 days irrigation intervals and minimum malondialdehyde content in 200mT field intensity under 2 days irrigation intervals were obtained. The maximum number of flowers (as the most important index on increasing yield) were obtaind at 200mT fields intensity for 2 and 4 days and at 50 and 100mT fields intensity for 6 days irrigation intervals. In general, it can be said application of magnetic field with moderate intensities can alleviate stress conditions.