Effect of Foliar Application of Irradiated Chitosan on Okra

In recent decades, a greater knowledge of chitin chemistry, and the increased availability of chitin-containing waste materials from the seafood industry, have led to the testing and development of chitin-containing products for a wide variety of applications in the agricultural applications. A number of modes of action have been proposed for how chitin and its derivatives can improve crop yield with the help of gamma radiation. This study was designed to evaluate the potential uses of a natural biomaterial, irradiated chitosan, as plant growth promoter and anti-fungal agent. Chitin from prawn shells was extracted by using chemical methods, deproteinization with 6 % NaOH at 80 C for one hour and demineralization with 4 % HCl at room temperature for one hour. The resultant chitin powders were divided into six groups first package was non-irradiated and the others were packaged in PE bags and irradiated at doses of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kGy, respectively. Then, non-irradiated and irradiated chitin samples were deacetylated in the aqueous sodium hydroxide solution (60 %) at 100 C for 60 min. Chitosan treated with gamma radiation at different doses, were used to evaluate the efficiency of irradiated chitosan on okra. The aim of this study was to increase the crop yield by using irradiated chitosan (50, 100, 150 ppm) spraying at 7 days interval. The growth attributes like total fruit weight per plant, plant height and number of fruits per plant were investigated. The results show that application of irradiated chitosan at 20 kGy and 100 ppm can improve nearly four times than control.