ACTA AGRONOMICA TOMUS 13. (A MTA AGRÁRTUDOMÁNYI KÖZLEMÉNYEI, 1964)

1964 / 1-2. szám - L. LEHOCZKY-P. SOÓS: Design of an Outdoor Radiation (Gamma) Field

DESIGN OF AN OUTDOOR RADIATION (GAMMA) FIELD By L. LEHOCZKY and P. SoÓS UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES GÖDÖLLŐ—HUDAPEST (Received January 25, 1963) Introduction The scope of application of radioactive isotopes is expanding in our days all over the world. Several industrial applications are known in addition to therapeutical uses and the use of isotopes is spreading also in agriculture. Utilization of radioactive isotopes in Hungary is still in the experimental stage. However, on the base of foreign and Hungarian experiments carried out so far, remarkable results are to be expected also in agriculture. Isotopes produced in atomic reactors might be used partly as tracers in research work on metabolism and partly as radioactive radiation sources. The X-ray apparatuses used formerly could be only applied for brief irradiation, mainly of seeds, potplants or animals kept in cages. There was no possibility to irradiate outdoor plants during the whole growing season. Radiation fields operating with isotopic radiation sources ensure this possibility. Isotopes used in plant experiments do not infect the plants, i.e., they do not render them emissive, as the energy level radiated by these isotopes is low — except for neutron sources. This is advantageous because the irradiated plants — when radiation is completed — can be studied directly without any precautions, they might even be consumed or fed to animals. Outdoor irradiation experiments are important mainly for plant breed­ing. The hitherto performed foreign tests convincingly proved the adventageous effect of irradiations on certain properties of the plants. Plants sprouting from irradiated seeds, or those irradiated in early growth become more resistant to adversities of the climate, and varieties of plants with a hitherto unpreced­ented cropyield can be produced in this way. As the result of irradiation for instance maize hybrids more resistant and of higher yields than the existent ones were grown recently in the Soviet Union. The effect of irradiation on plants is far from being explained or fully understood in every respect as yet. However, the successful tests carried out so far admonish us to utilize the advantages inherent in isotopes as extensively as possible for increasing the level of agricultural production at a much higher rate than was hitherto the case. As far as known to us not more than nine or ten irradiation fields are operating all over the world and since a few years only. 1 Acta Agronomica XIII/1 —2.

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