Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized from Azadirachta indica Leaf Extract Enhanced Certain Agromorphological and Yield Traits in Soybean Landraces in Niger State

Abstract

Soybean is a globally important legume crop that is a leading source of seed protein and oil. In an attempt to assess the effect of different concentrations of silver nanoparticle on the agro-morphological and yield traits of soybean, two different accessions of soybean (SOY-MNA-001 and SOY-MNA-002) were evaluated. The study was conducted at the experimental garden, federal university of technology, Minna, Niger State. The experiment was laid out in a complete randomized design arranged in 3 x 5 factorial combination with 4 replications. Different concentrations (0 ppm, 25 ppm, 50 ppm, 75 ppm and 100 ppm) of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) were used in this study. The results revealed significant differences within the traits studied. The highest plant height (36.00 cm), number of pods per plant (152.20), weight of 100 seeds (10.61 g) and reduced number of days to 50% flowering (32.50 days) resulted from plants treated with 100 ppm of silver nanoparticle but highest number of leaves/plant (86.20) resulted from those treated with 25 ppm for SOY-MNA-001. For SOY-MNA-002, the highest weight of 100 seeds (11.00 g) as well as lowest number of days to 50% flowering (37.00 days) were obtained from plants treated with 100 ppm of silver nanoparticle. However, the highest plant height (29.42 cm) and number of leaves/plant (86.20) were recorded from plants treated with 75 ppm AgNPs and highest number of pods/plant (152.00) from those treated with 50 ppm AgNPs. It is therefore concluded that variation in concentrations of silver nanoparticle tend to influence certain morphological and yield attributes in soybean accessions.