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Electric field: a new environmental factor for controlling plant growth and development in agriculture

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Abstract

The application of electricity to plant cultivation has a long and contentious history. Plants are exposed to natural electric fields throughout their life cycles. Therefore, electric fields should be considered as an environmental factor that affects plant growth and development. Here, we provide a review of the literature on the responses of several plants to various electric field treatments. We summarize plant responses to electric fields and discuss current challenges and future opportunities in electro-culture.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (grant number 2020R1I1A3074865).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Engineering, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Jeonju, 54875, Republic of Korea

    Sora Lee

  2. Division of Animal, Horticultural and Food Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 28644, Republic of Korea

    Myung-Min Oh

  3. Brain Korea 21 Center for Bio-Health Industry, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 28644, Republic of Korea

    Myung-Min Oh

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  1. Sora Lee
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Conceptualization, writing—original draft preparation, and project administration, S.R. Lee; writing—review and funding acquisition, M.M. Oh. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Myung-Min Oh.

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Communicated by Young Yeol Cho.

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Lee, S., Oh, MM. Electric field: a new environmental factor for controlling plant growth and development in agriculture. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 64, 955–961 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-023-00525-y

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