ORIGINAL PAPER Influence of Metal Nanoparticles (NPs) on Germination and Yield of Oat (Avena sativa) and Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) Aniruddha Maity 1 • Nagappan Natarajan 2 • Dunna Vijay 1 • Ramakrishnan Srinivasan 1 • Mukul Pastor 3 • Devendra Ram Malaviya 1 Received: 27 July 2015 / Revised: 6 March 2016 / Accepted: 30 August 2016 Ó The National Academy of Sciences, India 2016 Abstract Assessment of effect of nanoparticles on plant growth is essential before adopting nanotechnology in agricultural sector. Four types of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) viz. Zinc oxide (ZnO), Titanium oxide (TiO 2 ), Copper oxide (CuO) and Silver (Ag) were studied for their effect on seed germination, vigour and yield in fodder crops, oat and berseem. Nanoparticles were syn- thesized and characterized before seed treatment. Seeds were treated with NPs at 750 mg (D1), 1000 mg (D2) and 1250 mg/kg of seed (D3). The effect of nanoparticles on seed germination and vigour was studied in the laboratory and seedling emergence rate, tiller number and seed yield were studied in the field. Nanoparticles (except TiO 2 and CuO in berseem) enhanced germination at lower dose (D1), but reduction in root and shoot length was noticed at higher doses (D2 and D3). All four types of nanoparticles (NPs) in oat and only Ag in case of berseem enhanced germination to 100 % at lowest dose (D1). Substantial changes were noticed in field observations due to nanoparticle treatments regarding seedling emergence rate, tiller number and seed yield. Among the different NPs, TiO 2 produced maximum seed yield at highest dose. No significant effect of nanoparticles on soil microbial populations was noticed during the field study. The experiment confirmed the dose- specific effect of nanoparticles on seed germination, crop growth and seed yield in oat and berseem crops. Keywords Nanotechnology Á Nanoparticle Á Seed germination Á Plant growth Á Soil microbes Á Seed yield Introduction Nanotechnology has opened up several applications in medicine, pharmacology and allied industries [1]. Nano- materials are being widely used in several commercial applications such as fillers, semiconductors, drug carriers, electronics, cosmetics and catalysts [2]. Of late, applied studies in agriculture field particularly in crop protection, crop production and seed treatment have started emerging [3]. Nanoparticle literally ranges from 1 to 100 nm and due to this small size it acquires a wide array of advanced physical, chemical and electrical properties as compared to their bulk materials leading to some unprecedented advantages. Different studies showed both positive and negative effects of nanoparticles on plants, animals and microbes [4, 5]. Several promising results have been reported in the enhancement of seed germination, vigour and yield in wide array of crops due to nanoparticle application [6–8]. The nanoparticles of key elements/metals viz., SiO 2 , TiO 2 , ZnO were studied extensively for seed treatment purpose. Multi-cut forage crops like berseem, lucerne, sorghum, oat etc. need initial vigour and good germina- tion to have more biomass during first cut. The restricted usage of herbicides in forages due to their utilization as animal feed has led to severe weed competition. The high initial vigour, foliage growth and good germination in thickly sown crop help in suppressing the weeds and enhancing the biomass. & Aniruddha Maity aniruddha.maity@icar.gov.in 1 Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh 284003, India 2 Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003, India 3 Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh 284128, India 123 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. DOI 10.1007/s40011-016-0796-x