Influence of Plant Growth Regulators and Magnetic Field on Development of Nutritionally Important Tomato Plant

Plant hormones are signaling molecules and growth substances that occur naturally in plants. Growth regulators such as auxin and cytokinins play significant roles by controlling plant growth, development, flowering, fruiting, aging, leaf fall, etc. Alongside, the geomagnetic field is a natural element of earth’s environment which influences the response of plants to gravity, different wavelengths of light, electrical signals, etc. Based on the type of plant used, growth and proliferation of plant organs heavily depends on the presence of nutrients and growth regulators in the growth medium, and by magnetic influence in the environment. In our present study, we have found a definite positive correlation between the two external factors i.e., magnetic field and phytohormones (NAA and BAP) upon plant growth. It was clearly observed that the growth of the experimental crop - tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) was positively influenced by phytohormones and magnetic field when the seedlings were grown in presence of 0.5 mg NAA and 1.0 mg BAP and kept under magnetic field of 100 and 150 Gauss. Vegetative growth of tomato seedlings was significantly increased upon treatment with magnetic field in presence of plant hormones, as compared to the control plants. The current research is a pioneer endeavour in studying the role of plant growth regulators together with magnetic fields by evaluating the seedling growth responses to MF values higher than those of earth’s magnetic field.