Comparative Effects of Chitosan and Nano Silver on Chickpea Germination and Seedling Growth
Keywords:
Germ inability, Germination percentage, Germination power, Nano fertilization, Silver nanoparticles, Soaking seedsAbstract
Seed soaking is an important pre-sowing treatment that enhances germination and seedling establishment, improving germination under arid and stress conditions remains a major challenge in chickpea production, eco-friendly treatments such as chitosan and silver nanoparticles have gained increasing attention. The study was conducted during the 2025-2026 season in the Crops Laboratory, Crops Department, Sebha University, Agriculture Faculty, Libya.
Two experiments were carried out using different concentrations of chitosan (0.5%, 1% and 3%) and AgNPs (5, 10 and 20 ppm), relative to untreated seeds (control). Germination percentage (G %), germination power, germination index, shoot length, root length, fresh weight and dry weight were measured.
The findings indicated that the effect of chitosan (1%) was significantly improved all studied traits compared with other treatments recording the highest values of germination traits, including germination percentage (98), germination power (20000), germination index (10.4), shoot length (8.4 cm), root length (13.1 cm), fresh weight (3 g), and dry weight (0.8 g). In contrast, the highest concentration (3%) exerted a negative effect on most traits.
Regarding AgNPs, the 10 ppm treatment showed the best performance, with significant improvement of germination percentage (88), germination power (6000), germination index (6.2), shoot length (5.77 cm), root length (5.87 cm), fresh weight (1.04 g) and dry weight (0.259 g), whereas 20 ppm treatment showed inhibitory effects on most traits.
It is concluded that the application of 1% chitosan and 10 ppm AgNPs as seed treatments to improve chickpea germination and early seedling growth in the laboratory, and potentially in the field to improve crop establishment in arid conditions.
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