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Abstract
In this study, the effect of Zinc Oxide Nano particles on the growth of Cowpea in soil polluted with cadmium was evaluated. Cadmium, which is one of the most lethal heavy metal to plant was used to pollute the soil. Cadmium has been associated with reduced germination rate, stunted growth, lack of photosynthetic activities in plants and eventually, death of the plant. The study was carried out with controls, three treatments and three replicates. Two of the controls were treated with Zinc oxide nanoparticles and the other three treatments were first polluted with three different concentrations of cadmium (25mg/kg, 50mg/kg and 75mg/kg) and the effect on the germination and growth rate of cowpea observed, before the application of nanoparticles. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were applied weekly on the plants via foliar spray to mitigate the negative effects of cadmium on the plants. It was observed that at the end of the weekly nanoparticles application on the cowpea plants, the plants which were previously at the verge of death were revived and there was a significant increase in their growth parameters (their heights, girth and number of leaves). At 14DAP before the first nanoparticles application, the cowpea plants were recorded to have two leaves as the average number of leaves for the all the treatments, meanwhile, after the last application of zinc oxide nanoparticles, which was at 39DAP, the minimum number of leaves recorded was nine (9), and the highest mean was 14.5 for the treatments and replicates. This is to prove that Zinc oxide nano particles is an effective nano fertilizer, efficient in plant growth and development.
