Growth and Productivity of Garden Pea (Pisumsativum L.) as Affected by Foliar Application of Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO NPs)

A field experiment was conducted to evaluation the garden pea (Pisumsativum L.) cvMaster Bresponse to the foliar application of carbon nanotube (CNT) or zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) during two consecutive winter seasons (2016/2017 and 2017/2018). CNT and ZnO NPs were sprayed three times at a week-intervals starting at thethree true-leaf stage. Three different doses were used (100, 150 and 200 ppm), in addition to, untreatedplants (control). Generally, the datarevealed that treated plants were superior to the control (untreated) onesin both seasons concerning total pod yield, total chlorophyll (µg/cm2), 50% flowering (days), weight of 100-seed (g), average green-pod weight (g) and total number of green-pods per plant. The highest total pod yield/feddan was produced by the pea plants sprayed with ZnO NPs at concentration of 100 ppm. The second highest total pod yield/ feddanexhibited by plants sprayed with 150 ppm CNT. Stem length (cm), number of branches per plant, days to the first flower, green pod length (cm) and weight of dry seeds for the treated versus untreated plants exhibited inconsistent significance considering the two years. However, average number of seeds per pod was not significant in both years. It is concluded that CNT and ZnO NPs seem to hold a promise for enhancing pea crop productivity. Here, the total pod yield was elevated by as high as 190% relative to the untreated control.