Effect of Selenium Nanoparticles on the Formation of Corn Yield

Abstract

The peculiarities Obsky 140 variety of corn in yield formation when it is cultivated with the use of selenium nanoparticles in an optimum concentration were studied. The experiment was conducted in soil culture in threefold repetition. Agrochemical indicators of soil were: 6.2 pH_KCl, 2.6% content of humus, 204 mg/kg P₂O₅, and 219 mg/kg K₂O of soil. Four variants of the experiment were developed: control 1 (dry seeds), control 2 (seeds soaked in water), seed incrustation with NP Se (semidry pickling), and seeds soaked in NP Se (30 min before seeding calculated for 0.1 g/ha). NP Se containing 3.7 mg of Se nanopreparation in 1 L of water was used. The positive effect of selenium nanoparticles on the growth processes of corn seeds—germination, germination energy, and growth force—was shown. Seed treatment with NP Se increased the seed germination energy by 6.90 and 9.13%, laboratory germination by 4.67 and 8.34%, and growth force by 26.32 and 31.05%, respectively, compared with control 2 and control 1. Under adverse conditions, the use of selenium nanoparticles increased plant growth in height. NP Se had a positive effect on starch accumulation, and soaking in this preparation increased the content of protein fractions. The greatest increase in yield of corn’s dry phytomass was provided by the soaking of seeds in selenium nanoparticles, which is caused by an increase corn’s green mass yield.