EFFECT OF MAGNETIZED IRRIGATION WATER AND SEEDS ON GERMINATION, WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND YIELD OF COWPEA CULTIVARS
Abstract
The effects of magnetized irrigation water and cowpea seeds on germination, water use efficiency (WUE), and yields were investigated under transparent garden. Irrigation water was treated with neodymium and round-bar magnets with magnetic fluxes of 112.74 mT and 107.15 mT. Water was applied at 1.50 litres per day for 3-day intervals at 2 plants per bucket. Cowpea cultivars (C1= TVX-117, C2= IAR-48, and C3 = Ife brown) were stimulated within magnetic fields of fluxes 27.32 mT and 18.54 mT before planting. Four experiments and one control were replicated five times randomized using factorial design. The neodymium-treated water only (T1), neodymium-treated water and seeds (T2), round-bar treated water only (T3), round-bar treated water and seeds (T4), and non-treated water and seeds (Tc). The germination indices revealed that four magnetic treatments performed better than the control with significant differences at p<0.05 (R2 = 0.9598). Cowpea yields showed that there was a significant difference at p=0.0006 (p<0.05, R2 = 0.9599). There were no significant differences in WUE for all the treatments as R2 = 0.01830 was closed to zero at p<0.05. This study concluded that magnetized water and/or seeds improved growth rate, WUE, and cowpea yield compared to the control.
