Table 5 Advanced cotton seed treatments

1

Pulsed electromagnetic field

• Magnetic field treatment of cotton seeds increased the germination percentage by 85% compared with the control

• Treated seeds also performed better in the fields.

• In the case of 1-year old seeds, the control had a germination rate of 59% and the treated seeds had a germination rate of 72%

• Similarly, in the case of 2-year-old seeds, the control had a germination rate of 30% and the treated seeds had a germination rate of 55%

(Bilalis et al. 2012)

2

High voltage pulsed electric field

• The frequency of the electric field at 10 Hz improved the germination rate, germination potential, germination index, and vigour index

• Above 10 Hz frequency, the effects were decreased.

• Compared with the two voltage treatments, treatment at 16 kV gave better results than 20 kV

(Yan et al. 2017)

3

Extremely low frequency high voltage pulsed electric field

• Cotton seed vigour after electric treatment increased initially and later decreased with increasing frequency and voltage

• At the optimum condition of pulsed voltage at 16.25 kV and frequency at 10.90 Hz, increased the germination potential by 44%, germination rate by 56%, germination index by 64%, and vigour index by 81% compared with the control.

• The control had a germination rate of 44% and the treated seeds had a germination rate of 69%

(Yan et al. 2017)

4

Cold plasma treatment

• Cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) treatment for 27 min improved germination, water absorption, and chilling tolerance

• In the warm germination test, the control had a germination rate of 65% and the treated seeds had a germination rate of 90% after 10 days

• In the cold germination test, the control had a germination rate of 79% and the treated seeds had a germination rate of 82% after 10 days

(de Groot et al. 2018)

5

High-voltage pulsed electric field treatment system with super-low-frequency

• Pulsed electric field treatment by arc shaped prick electrode increased the germination potential by 27%, germination rate by 45%, germination index by 42%, and vigour index by 71%

• Pulsed electric field treatment by plate electrode increased the germination potential by 22%, germination rate by 20%, germination index by 35%, and vigour index by 64%

(Song et al. 2020)

6

High voltage electric field

• High voltage electric field treatment increased the germination rate by 43%, germination potential by 19%, germination index by 29%, and vitality index by 48% compared with the control

• The control had a germination rate of 63% and a vigour index of 695, while among 25 treatments, the treated seeds achieved the highest germination rate of 84% and the highest vigour index of 981

(Song et al. 2021)

7

Electromagnetic field

• Pre-sowing electromagnetic treatment increased the germination rate by 19% and germination energy by 24% compared with the control

• The control had a germination rate of 85% and the treated seeds had a germination rate of 88%

(Koleva et al. 2022)

8

Metal-based nanoparticles

• ZnONP (200 mg·kg^–1) and TiO₂NP (400 mg·kg ^–1) exhibited maximum seed germination, seedling establishment, and seed vigour index

• For both the nanoparticles, the control had a germination rate of 71% and the nano-primed seeds had a germination rate of 75%

(Singh et al. 2022)

9

Magnetic water treatment

• Magnetized fresh and brackish water increased the cotton seed germination by 13% and 41%, respectively

(Zhang et al. 2022)

10

Metal oxide nanoparticles

• Cotton seeds primed with ZnONP and TiO₂NP maintained the seed vigour and quality during the storage period

• After 12 months of storage, the cotton variety H1300 showed a germination rate of 57% in the control, with ZnONP and TiO₂NP nano-primed seeds achieving rates of 63% and 63%, respectively, while in the cotton variety H1098-I, the control had a germination rate of 56%, and the nano-primed seeds with ZnONP and TiO₂NP had rates of 64% and 62%, respectively

(Singh et al. 2022)