Laser Radiation to Stimulate Tobacco Growth

During the last 50 years the progress of chemical technology provoked a production revolution in agriculture. Many chemicals are used for fertilizing crops, controlling pests and helping to develop a highly successful farm system. The long-term use of chemicals in agricultural production resulted in a decrease in plant resistance, plant yield and soil-yielding capacity. The negative effects of chemicals on agricultural produce and the environment are commonly known. Therefore, many scientists believe that this century is the century of biophysical methods in agriculture. One biophysical method for plant growing stimulation is laser irradiation of seeds before sowing.

The subjects of this study were three genotypes of Virginia tobacco, whose seeds were irradiated with a red laser (l=655 nm, P= 0.7 mW) with different durations (30s, 60s, 120s). The present study aimed to trace the period of seedling formation and to establish the effect of laser irradiation on the duration of the phenological growth stages. Mathematical and statistical processing methods are applied to the database of experimental data.

It was found that pre-sowing laser irradiation of tobacco seeds with a red laser led to an acceleration of germination. The results show that the wide application of pre-sowing laser irradiation of tobacco seeds will enable intense and more qualitative tobacco leaf production, as well as the protection of the environment.