Utilization of Atmospheric Plasmas for Agricultural Applications

Abstract

Atmospheric pressure plasma fit great in agricultural applications due to their reduced complexity and to their chemical reactivity, being produced in air. In this work we present some of our results regarding agricultural applications of plasmas, obtained with seeds and soil exposed in atmospheric pressure plasmas conditions. The treatment of seeds shown a non-linear behavior with the exposure time and voltage for seed germination and development. The effects are strongly dependent on the type of seeds. Radish seeds were stimulated with lower voltages plasma and shorter exposures as compared to broccoli. In some conditions plasma exposure inhibited the growth, with lower germination rates than un-exposed samples and smaller size of the sprouts. For soil treatment we found the possibility to increase the nitrogen content of soil when tuning plasma treatment conditions, and we believe it is due to the reaction between reactive nitrogen species produced in plasma and organic components in soil.