Research Question

How do different volumes of distilled water (0.00ml (±0.05ml), 0.50ml (±0.05ml), 1.00ml (±0.05ml),
1.50ml (±0.05ml), 2.00ml (±0.05ml)) affect the growth of radicles and plumules (±0.5 mm) of Cicer
arietinum after 7 days?

Personal engagement
The annual rainfall in Mumbai, India, in 2021 was over 3000 mm between June and September1. The annual
rainfall has been increasing every year and this could be because of the climate change. Increased fossil fuel
emissions would likely increase global temperature by 3-4 degrees Celsius2. It is predicted that the total
rainfall will increase throughout the century. This seed germination investigation is significant to me
because in the future I would like to grow chickpeas in my house since it is one of the staple foods in my
country. In Mumbai, we have a garden where we grow various vegetables including chickpeas because we
prefer using our own instead of the market ones. Most of the vegetables have a good harvesting time
throughout the year, however, chickpeas were the one type of crop which had trouble growing properly. The
only time it grew well was from June to September – the rainy season. This always made me wonder why
chickpeas are well-grown during rainy season more than summer and hence why I am conducting this
investigation. This investigation is important to conduct because when batches of chickpeas are being sold in
India, all those seeds must be planted in states facing rain so that there is a greater production of chickpeas.
After all, around 73% of the chickpeas are produced in India (11 million tons produced in India in 2020)3.
Chickpeas are part of the staple food of India because it has gotten so many health benefits and it’s used in
more than half of the foods cooked in India. It is a source of protein, folate, soluble and insoluble fiber, iron,
phosphorus, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated fatty acids4. Chickpeas can help improve overall blood
sugar, help lower blood cholesterol levels, and helps with weight management.

Background Information
Seed germination is the process that leads to the emergence of a seedling from a seed. It begins with the
absorption of water, which activates enzymes that break down the seed coat which then exposes the embryo
to different conditions that allow it to start growing.
Plant hormones:
Auxin is one of the essential hormones required which accumulates in the embryo and induces the
expression of genes that are necessary for germination. It helps in showing a growth response, for example,
shoots of the plant growing toward (positive) or away from the light (negative) – known as phototropism.
This happens because the cells on the shoot which don’t receive the sunlight, elongate faster than the cells
which are receiving the sunlight. It is the tip of the coleoptile which senses the light and shows a phototropic
response, without the tip the shoot would not bend (figure 1).

1
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/mumbai-over-3-000mm-of-rain-this-monsoon-101633021291115.html#:~:text=long%2Dperiod%20average.-,The
%202021%20monsoon%20season%20also%20marks%20the%20third%20consecutive%20year,department's%20monitoring%20station%20in%20Santacruz.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29942294/
2
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/ipcc-report-warning-mumbai-will-be-worst-hit-among-indian-metros-78823#:~:text=Published%3A%20Friday
%2003%20September%202021,Change%20(IPCC)%20report%20warned.
3
https://www.statista.com/statistics/722203/chickpeas-production-volume-by-country-worldwide/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20the%20production%20volume,of
%20chickpeas%20were%20produced%20worldwide.
4
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/chickpeas-garbanzo-beans/
1
Figure 1 – picture showing how phototropism works
Auxin also regulates fruit development, enhances apical dominance, and delay leaf abscission (Campbell
and Reece). For cell elongation with the help of auxin, the first step that takes place is that auxin increases
the activity of proton-pumps which leads to the cell wall becoming more acidic. After, the wedge-shaped
expansins (protein) are activated, cellulose microfibrils are separated from cross-linking polysaccharides
(Campbell and Reece). This makes the exposed cross-linking polysaccharides more accessible to the
loosening enzymes of the cell wall. As the cellulose microfibrils slide, the extensibility of the cell wall
increases which then causes the cell to expand. With the cellulose loosened, the cell can then elongate
(Campbell and Reece).

Gibberellins are best known for stimulating stem and leaf growth by enhancing cell elongation and cell
division. They work with auxin in order to promote stem elongation. It is easiest to spot absence of
gibberellin in dwarf and rosette plants due to the tiny spaces between the nodes and leaves clustered toward
the base of the plant. During seed germination, the embryo of a seed is a rich source of gibberellins. After
the seed consumes water, gibberellin is released which sends a signal to the aleurone (thin outer layer of the
endosperm). The aleurone then synthesizes and secretes digestive enzymes that hydrolyze nutrients stored in
the endosperm. Sugars and other nutrients absorbed are consumed during growth of the embryo into a
seedling (Campbell and Reece).
Fungi:
White fluffy fungus grows on the seeds because of high humidity5. Especially with petri dishes, the humidity
level rises so high that it encourages the growth of the white, fluffy fungus. However, to prevent this from
happening, some holes could be poked into the lid of the container so that there’s better air circulation and
the humidity level decreases. Fungal seed-borne pathogens thrive in various conditions. A toxin produced
from fungus is mycotoxin, which depends on several factors such as water content, moisture content, plant
type, climate, temperature, and oxygen level6.
Absorption of water during seed germination:
When water is consumed by the seed, the seed swells up, which causes the Testa (seed coat) to burst
allowing the growing embryo plant to exit the seed7. Water increases metabolic activity by allowing
enzymes in the embryo to start working so that growth can occur. The epidermal cells near the tips of roots
are permeable to water, and many are differentiated into root hairs that account for absorption of water by
roots (Campbell and Reece). There are two types of water-conducting cells, tracheids, and vessel elements in
the xylem (Campbell and Reece). When a tracheid or vessel element's living cellular contents disintegrate,
the thickened cell walls remain, forming a non-living conduit through which water can flow. The tracheids
and vessel elements of the root, stem, and leaves are interconnected to facilitate continuous water
conduction system to all parts of the plant8. The water transports upwards against the force of gravity with

5
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/propagation/seeds/preventing-white-fluffy-fungus-on-seed-starting-soil.htm#:~:text=The%20number%20one
%20reason%20that,the%20seeds%20have%20fully%20germinated.
6
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmicro/2021/6702856/
7
https://www.savemyexams.co.uk/igcse/biology/edexcel/19/revision-notes/3-reproduction--inheritance/3-1-reproduction/3-1-3-practical-conditions-for-germination/
8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sflDWVTgKAU
2
 the help of xylem vessels. The cohesion of water molecules as it goes up the xylem, transmits a transpiration
pull along the entire length of the xylem from shoots to roots.

Hypothesis
At the end of this experiment, I expect to see more growth in the highest volume of distilled water used. This
is what I expect to see because from my personal knowledge I know that chickpeas grow very well in rainy
seasons, therefore, I thought that the larger the volume of water, the greater the growth of radicles and
plumules of Cicer arietinum.

Equipment list
Table 1 – List of equipment and justification of their use.
Equipment Justification
Cicer arietinum seeds (x125)  Required to conduct 5 trials for 5 different volumes of distilled water.
Distilled water (0.00ml (±0.05ml)/ 0.50ml The independent variable to investigate how the different volumes affect the
(±0.05ml)/ 1.00ml (±0.05ml)/ 1.50ml seeds.
(±0.05ml)/ 2.00ml (±0.05ml)) 
Petri dishes (x25) To contain the Cicer arietinum seeds in it.
Filter paper (x25) To place in the petri dishes and then place the seeds on top of it.
Board marker To label the petri dishes according to the volume of distilled water that will be
used.
Cotton thread To measure the length of the radicles and plumules of Cicer arietinum after 7
Centimetre ruler (±0.05cm) days.
3ml Pipette (±0.5ml) To measure the distilled water accordingly to the labelled petri dish.
Weighing boat To weigh the seeds within my range of mass.
Weighing scale (1.15g ±0.05 g)
Sodium hypochlorite solution  To disinfect the seeds and lower the chances of fungal or bacterial growth.
Safety goggles To protect eyes whilst using the sodium hypochlorite solution.
Thermometer (23ºC ±0.50ºC) To check room temperature every day and making sure it is in the same range.
250ml Glass beaker (100ml ±0.05ml) To measure the sodium hypochlorite solution and then soak the seeds in it to
disinfect.
Tweezer To pick and drop the Cicer arietinum seeds into the petri dishes.
Stopwatch (45s ±1 s) To time the soaking of seeds in sodium hypochlorite solution
Gloves To avoid contact with mold and fungi and reduce risk of fungal infection

Sodium hypochlorite solution Tweezers

Distilled water Weighing boat

Weighing scale
Glass beaker

Pipette Petri dishes, filter paper,

and Cicer arietinum
seeds

3
 Figure 2 – Equipment required prior to obtaining the final results

Methodology 
1. Soak the seeds in distilled water for fourteen hours.
2. Wear safety glasses and rinse all the seeds in 100ml (±1ml) of sodium hypochlorite solution for 45s
(±1 s) (using a stopwatch) in a glass beaker to avoid the seeds from having bacterial growth.
3. Place same sized filter papers in the petri dishes. 
4. Measure the mass of seeds using weighing scale and weighing boat (1.15g (±0.50g)) and place 5
seeds of Cicer arietinum using tweezers into each petri dish (figure 1) and label each according to
the volume of water. 
5. Pour (0.00ml (±0.05ml)/ 0.50ml (±0.05ml)/ 1.00ml (±0.05ml)/ 1.50ml (±0.05ml)/ 2.00ml (±0.05ml))
of distilled water using pipettes into the petri dishes every 24 hours for 7 days.
6. Check the temperature of the room at the same time for 7 days.
7. Repeat steps 1-5 four more times to have reliable data. 

Risk assessment
Table 2 – Risk assessment outlining the possible hazards, risks, risk level, precautions to avoid the hazards,
and treatment.
Risk Hazard level Hazard Precautions Treatment

Keep the glass beaker away

from the edge of the If there’s a cut on the skin, then put it
Cuts on the Breaking of glass working space to avoid it under cold water immediately and dry
skin Medium beaker from falling. it up to stop the bleeding.
If the glass beaker has Go to the school nurse immediately to
broken already, then do not get the cut treated and bandaged.
touch it with bare hands.
Irritation and Uncareful use of the Carefully and slowly use Immediately put the contaminated area
burn on skin High sodium hypochlorite the solution to rinse the under cold water and then contact the
and eyes solution could cause seeds. school nurse immediately.
spillage over skin. Use safety goggles.
Minor Spillage of water Avoid moving around the Find the injured place on the person
physical injury Medium whilst pouring them lab whilst holding the and take him/her to the school nurse
from slipping into petri dishes. water. If water is spilt, for treatment.
clean it instantly.
Wear gloves when using Wash the infected area with water and
Inhalation or direct the seeds with fungal soap thoroughly and clean it properly
Fungal High contact with fungus growth. Keep the lid closed so that the fungus doesn’t increase. Go
infection could lead a fungal on the petri dish when to the school nurse and apply
infection. possible. Wear a mask in antifungal cream.
the process.
Making sure all equipment
Catching Covid-19 is sterilised which would Isolate the person immediately and get
Catching the High due to improper reduce the risk of catching every other person in close contact RT-
Covid-19 virus sanitization and the virus. Continue social PCR tested.
sterilisation of all distancing and wear a mask
equipment. the whole time.

4
 Independent, dependent, and control variables

Table 2 - An outline of the independent, dependent and control variables.

Variable Outline of Variable Justification Range/units/ Method of
uncertainty measuring
Different volumes of distilled water 0.00ml (±0.05ml)/
Independent Volume of distilled water have been used to see how much growth 0.50ml (±0.05ml)/
variable there is in the radicle and plumule of the 1.00ml (±0.05ml)/ Pipette
Cicer arietinum seeds 1.50ml (±0.05ml)/
2.00ml (±0.05ml)
The radicle and plumule of every single
Radicle and plumule seed were measured to see how much Cotton
Dependent length of Cicer effect the volume of water had on the ±0.05cm thread and
arietinum (±0.05cm) growth being in the same place for all 7 ruler
days.
This must be controlled because
Volume of sodium otherwise some seeds may not have
hypochlorite solution been rinsed enough causing bacteria and 100ml (±1ml) Glass beaker
fungi growth. All seeds must have the
same amount for reliable results.
Duration of rinsing seeds All seeds must be rinsed for the same
in sodium hypochlorite amount of time which makes every 45s (±1s) Stopwatch
solution single seed very similar prior to
watering.
Duration of soaking To start germination, the seeds had to be
seeds in water prior to soaked in water. All seeds had to be
start of experiment soaked for the same amount of time to 14hr (±0.5hr) N/A
prevent either early germination or late.
The mass of seeds had to be kept in a Weighing
Mass of seeds certain range to prevent too many 1.15g (±0.05g) scale and
anomalies. Same mass of seeds boat
Control represents validity of results.
All the petri dishes were left in the same
Place of growth place so that no other external N/A N/A
conditions affect the growth of the
seeds.
Seeds from the same packet were used
to make sure that all seeds were treated
Age of seeds the same (for example fertilisation). N/A N/A
Figure 6 (in appendix) shows the
package of Cicer arietinum seeds used.
Different temperatures can have an
impact on the growth of the seed. Too
Temperature cold or too hot can stunt the growth of 22ºC (±0.50ºC) Thermometer
the seed and reduce the speed of
germination.

Analysis
Processed quantitative data:
5
To calculate the average values for all five radicle lengths in each volume of distilled water: Add up all the
values from each trial from one volume and then divide it by 5. For example, to calculate the average length
of Cicer arietinum radicles at 0.00ml (±0.05ml):
0+0+0+ 0+0.26
Average= = 0.05 cm
5
Table 3 – Average length of radicles in different volumes of distilled water after 7 days
Volume of Average length of radicles in each trial (±0.05cm) Average
distilled water length
(±0.05ml) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 (±0.05cm)
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.05
0.50 2.82 1.54 2.32 1.60 1.56 1.97
1.00 2.84 3.34 3.06 1.36 1.88 2.50
1.50 3.10 2.38 1.50 2.30 1.12 2.08
2.00 3.04 4.80 4.34 1.98 1.06 3.04

Qualitative data:
The average lengths of the radicles after 7 days show a positive relationship between the volume of distilled
water increases and growth of radicles in Cicer arietinum seeds. Below are two pictures showing the growth
of the third trial from day 1 and day 7 of germination:

Figure 3 – Cicer arietinum seeds on day 1

Figure 4 –
Cicer arietinum seeds on day 7

There was massive growth of radicles in the petri dish with 1.00ml (±0.05ml) of distilled water compared to
other volumes. The growth of the plumules also increased as the volume of water increased. The closed petri
dish with the volume 0.50ml (±0.05ml) in figure 4 had a lot of fungal growth and due to the risk of fungal
spreading the lid was kept closed for as long as possible. The petri dishes with no water added (0.00ml
(±0.05ml)) to them had no growth which proves that to germinate seeds need water.

The petri dish with the fungal growth might have been cause because of the excess humidity it must have
been in. Especially keeping the lid on the whole time in order to prevent fungal infection caused the
humidity to increase more and leading to the fungal infection to spread to the rest of the seeds.

6
 Figure 5 – 5th batch of Cicer arietinum seeds on day 1

However, there was one seed from the 5th trial which had some growth in it since day 1 regardless of no
water added to it (figure 5) but then it stopped growing further and that must have happened because there
was no water added to it. A possible reason why that one seed showed growth was maybe because of the
soaking of the seeds overnight. The germination of that seed in particular could have started earlier.

To be able to see how much variation is in my data, I calculated the standard deviation.

Table 5 – Calculating standard deviation for radicles for 0.50ml (±0.05ml) of distilled water
Average radicle
growth in each petri Average radicle Difference between Difference
dish (±0.05cm) growth (±0.05cm) data point and squared
average
2.82 1.97 0.85 0.72
0.50ml (±0.05ml) of distilled
1.54 1.97 -0.43 0.18
water
2.32 1.97 0.35 0.12
1.60 1.97 -0.37 0.14
1.56 1.97 -0.41 0.17
Sum of difference squared - - - 1.33

Standard deviation=
√ ∑ ( x−μ )2
N

SD=
√ ∑ (2.82−1.97)2
5

SD=
√
1.33
5
=0.52
Similarly, I calculated all the standard deviation values.

Table 6 – Standard deviation values for radicles for all volumes of distilled water
Volume of distilled Standard deviation
water (±0.05ml) (±0.05)
7
 0.00 0.10
0.50 0.52
1.00 0.75
1.50 0.70
2.00 1.97

With these standard deviation values, it is very clear that as the volume of distilled water increases, the
amount of variation in my data also increases. The 2.00ml (±0.05ml) standard deviation is the most spread
out in relation to the average value. I have presented all this information on a graph generated by Microsoft
excel.

Graph 1 – Average radicle growth (±0.05cm) in different volumes of distilled water (±0.05ml) after 7 days
with standard deviation (±0.05) and error bars
3.5

3 3.04
Volume of distilled water (±0.05ml)

2.5 2.5

2.08
2 1.97

1.5

0.5

0 0.05
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Average length of radicles (±0.05cm)

Looking at the graph there is a positive trend going. The largest gap is between the seeds which had 0.00ml
(±0.05ml) volume of distilled water and 0.50ml (±0.05ml). This shows the significance of water in seed
germination. Even a little bit of water can increase metabolic activity and activate enzymes to start growth.

Table 7 – Average length of plumules in different volumes of distilled water after 7 days
Volume of distilled Overall average
water (±0.05ml) Average length of plumules per petri dish (±0.05cm) length (±0.05cm)

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.50 1.26 0.46 1.00 0.54 0.12 0.68
1.00 0.96 1.62 0.86 0.20 0.92 0.91
1.50 0.72 0.94 1.42 1.04 0.14 0.85
2.00 1.72 2.74 2.04 0.34 0.74 1.52

The average lengths of the plumules also show a positive correlation. The seeds with 2 ±0.05ml of distilled
water had the longest average length of plumules, just like the radicles. Looking back at figure 1 and 2, it
can be depicted that volumes from 1 to 2ml had more plumule growth compared to 0 and 0.5ml.
8
To be able to see how varied my data is I have calculated the standard deviation.

Table 8 – Calculating standard deviation for plumules for 0.50ml (±0.05ml) of distilled water
Average plumule Average plumule Difference between Difference
growth in each petri growth (±0.05cm) data point and squared
dish (±0.05cm) average

0.5ml (±0.05ml) of distilled 1.26 0.68 0.58 0.34

water 0.46 0.68 -0.22 0.05
1.00 0.68 0.32 0.10
0.54 0.68 -0.14 0.02
0.12 0.68 -0.56 0.31
Sum of difference squared
- - - 0.82

Table 9 – Standard deviation values for plumules for all volumes of distilled water
Volume of distilled water (±0.05ml) Standard deviation (±0.05)
0.00 0.00
0.50 0.41
1.00 0.45
1.50 0.42
2.00 0.87

From the standard deviation values in table 8, it can be interpreted that 2.00ml (±0.05ml) of distilled water
has the highest standard deviation meaning that the data is the most spread out in relation to the average
value.

Graph 2 – Average plumule growth (±0.05cm) in different volumes of distilled water (±0.05ml) after 7 days
with standard deviation (±0.05) and error bars
1.6
1.52
1.4

1.2
Volume of distilled water (±0.05ml)

1
0.91
0.85
0.8
0.68
0.6

0.4

0.2

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Average length of plumules (±0.05cm)

This graph shows that there is a positive trend in the growth of plumules as well. As the volume of the
distilled water increased, the length of the plumules increased. The pattern of the average growth of the

9
plumules is similar to the average growth of the radicles. Even in this graph, the biggest difference is
between the seeds which had 0.00ml (±0.05ml) volume of distilled water and 0.50ml (±0.05ml).

Conclusion
Considering all the data that has been collected; it can be concluded that my hypothesis for this investigation
was correct. There was immense growth in the highest volume of distilled water compared to other volumes.
The trends in the graph support my conclusion that there is a positive trend in the investigation. The most
surprising outcome was the results for 1ml (±0.05ml), however, there could have been effects on the seeds
prior to my investigation which could not have been controlled. The two averages of radicles and plumules
have a lot of difference and this could be because the investigation was not long enough for the plumules to
grow more. The longer growth of the radicles shows that they developed first so that the xylem in the roots
could take in the distilled water and send it across to the rest of the seed. Which is why the growth of the
plumule is visible after a couple of days. Being in the United Arab Emirates, the humidity in the
environment could have possibly led to the fungi growth in some of the Cicer arietinum seeds. The longest
radicle and plumule growth were in the petri dishes with 2.00ml (±0.05ml) volume of distilled water
showing that this was the best volume for germinating Cicer arietinum seeds in this investigation. According
to another article, spore production and germination were severely impaired at the lowest water availability9.
This result is similar to the outcome that was achieved at the end of this investigation. At the lowest volume
of distilled water in this experiment, the radicle and plumule growth was very low compared the higher
volumes used. This article also mentions that at reduced water availability, the extraradical mycelium
(collection of filamentous fungal hyphae emerging from ectomycorrhizas) development was impacted,
potentially limiting its capacity to explore a higher volume of soil. If there is not enough water, the plant can
struggle with gaining all the nutrients and minerals which can affect the growth of the plant. Hence, there
should be a lot of water available so that the plant is able to take in the nutrients from the soil and also to
wash the hormone Absiscic acid (ABA) out of the seed because it inhibits germination. Hence, the growth of
radicles and plumules in the petri dishes with smaller volumes of distilled water were very low because there
was not enough water to wash away the ABA hormone from the seed which resulted in stunted germination
in those seeds. It is also possible that the seeds which did not grow, did not have the hormone gibberellins in
it which resulted in dwarf seeds.

Evaluation

9
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/statistics-probability/summarizing-quantitative-data/variance-standard-deviation-population/a/calculating-standard-deviation-step-by-step

10
 Table 10 – Evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, and improvements of the investigation.
Strengths
Used a large sample size (5 seeds
in each petri dish). This helped in
obtaining more data points
leading to getting reliable data.
Whilst conducting the experiment
I made sure that all the seeds were
grown in the same place for all
seven days.
The petri dishes with fungal
growth were repeated because
some of those seeds didn’t have
any radicle or plumule growth and
some weren’t possible to measure
due to the excess fungal growth.
The seeds I used for all five trials
were from the same packet which
made sure that all the seeds were.
11
Weaknesses
Due to large sample size, there were
many seeds with fungal growth as well
which had to be disregarded.
The reason for anomaly results in 1.5ml
(±0.05ml) of distilled water could be
that those seeds might have been kept in
a different warehouse or under different
conditions which could have affected
my experiment results.
The seeds in the petri dish which was
watered with 1.5 ±0.05ml of distilled
water, showed results which were an
anomaly. However, neither did I repeat
that whole set of 25 seeds nor did I did
exclude the anomaly from my averages.
However, when I repeated the
experiment for the seeds with fungal
growth, I used a different package which
had different production and expiration
date meaning that the age of seeds was
different.
Improvements (red) and extension (blue)
- The seeds should be soaked in the sodium
hypochlorite solution for longer (more
than 45s (±1 s)) so that the chance of
fungal growth is lower.
- For further investigation, the experiment
could be repeated, but with a different
type of seed, like peas and examine
whether there is fungal growth whilst
keeping all the control variables the same.
- Since this is an uncontrollable variable,
the results with the anomaly would have
to be simply repeated the next time it is
conducted.
- To look into this more, the same
investigation could be repeated but with
chickpeas from different companies to
confirm whether the storage of the seeds
in different warehouses have a major
impact on their germination or not.
- To get more reliable results, I could repeat
the whole 25 seeds but with smaller
increments (for example 1.2ml
(±0.05ml)). This would give a better idea
of how the volume affects the growth of
the radicles and plumules.
- Even when part of the investigation has to
be repeated, use the same package for
reliable results.
- This investigation could be continued for
2 weeks and should be observed how fast
the seeds are growing.
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Tripathi, Siddharth. “Identification and characterisation of seed-borne fungal pathogens associated with
maize (Zea mays L.)” Hindawi. 30th September 2021. Web. 6th March 2022.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmicro/2021/6702856/
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https://www.savemyexams.co.uk/igcse/biology/edexcel/19/revision-notes/3-reproduction--inheritance/3-1-
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sflDWVTgKAU
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Appendix
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Raw quantitative data:
Table 11 – Length of radicles in different volumes of distilled water after 7 days
Volume of Length of radicles (±0.05 cm)

distilled

water (ml) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0 ±0.05ml 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

2.5 2.9 1.3 0.3 0

2.4 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.1

0.5 ±0.05ml 1.6 0.3 0.0 1.8 0.7

2.2 1.4 5.7 2.8 2.6

5.4 3.1 4.6 2.1 3.4

1.6 3.8 7.0 0.0 3.2

3.2 4.9 0.0 0.5 0.0

1.0 ±0.05ml 0.0 2.2 0.0 2.6 0.0

2.4 2.9 4.2 2.2 1.4

7.0 2.9 4.1 1.5 4.8

3.5 2.9 3.8 0.0 0.0

1.7 1.1 1.0 2.4 1.3

1.5 ±0.05ml 1.6 0.5 0.0 2.3 0.2

7.5 2.8 1.4 1.0 2.3

1.2 4.6 1.3 5.8 0.0

5.7 3.1 7.0 3.2 0.0

1.6 8.8 2.6 1.6 0.0

2.0 ±0.05ml 2.8 5.7 6.0 3.5 0.0

0.0 1.6 3.8 0.7 2.7

5.1 4.8 2.3 0.9 2.6

13
Table 12 – Length of plumules in different volumes of distilled water after 7 days
Volume of Length of plumules (±0.05 cm)
distilled Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5
water (ml)

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0 ±0.05ml 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.5 ±0.05ml 2.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.2 2.7 1.2 0.0

2.2 0.9 2.3 1.5 1.6

2.3 2.3 2.4 0.0 2.0

0.8 1.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

1.0 ±0.05ml 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 2.1 1.6 0.0 1.6

1.7 1.2 0.3 1.0 1.0

1.0 1.6 2.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 1.6 2.4 0.9 0.0

1.5 ±0.05ml 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0

2.6 0.4 1.1 0.5 0.7

0.0 1.1 1.6 2.5 0.0

2.4 2.2 1.8 0.9 0.0

1.3 3.6 2.0 0.0 0.0

2.0 ±0.05ml 2.6 2.7 3.8 0.8 0.0

0.0 2.7 1.4 0.0 1.1

2.3 2.5 1.2 0.0 2.6

Figure 6 – Package of the Cicer arietinum seeds used

14