Cold plasma produces a highly reactive environment of high-energy electrons, charged particles, and various reactive species. These reactive species play an important role in seed germination and plant growth. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the staple foods of more than half of the world's population. Considering the importance of rice cultivation and cold plasma characteristics such as seed disinfection, improved seed germination and plant growth, in this study the effect of plasma activated water on rice growth indices was investigated. For this purpose, distilled water was exposed to plasma at 0, 4, 8 and 16 minutes. Then, 5 ml volume was added to petri dishes containing 10 rice seeds and placed on a light cultivation shelf for 8 days at 25 ° C. The results showed that 4 and 16-minute treatments had the greatest effect on seed germination. The 8-minutes treatment showed the greatest effect on shoot length. All treatments had a significant increase in root length compared to the control and 8- minute treatment showed the highest root length. The control sample had the highest number of roots but did not show a significant difference with the 4 and 8-minute treatments. The 8-minute treatment showed the highest seedling weight, although there was no significant difference with the 16-minute treatment and the control sample. The results show that treatment of rice seeds with plasma-activated water is likely to improve germination and subsequent growth.
