Seed treatment

A seed treatment is a treatment of the seed with either chemical agents or biological or by physical methods. Usually done to provide protection to the seed and improve the establishment of healthy crops. Not to be confused with a seed coating.

In agriculture and horticulture, coating of the seed is the process of applying exogenous materials to the seed. Also referred to as seed dressing.

A seed coating is the layer of material added to the seed, which may or may not contain a "protectant" (biological or chemical pesticide) or biostimulant applied to the seed and possibly some color... By the amount of material added, it can be divided into:[1]

  • A Film coating, a layer of thin film applied to the seed typically less than 10% of the mass of the original seed.
  • Encrustment, where the applied material is typically 100%–500% of the original seed mass, but the shape is still discernible.
  • Pellet, where the applied material is so thick that the seed's original shape is not discernible.

Seed coating provides the following functions:

  • For formulations with pesticides, direct application to seeds can be environmentally more friendly, as the amounts used can be very small.[2]
  • Color makes treated seed less attractive to birds, and easier to see and clean up in the case of an accidental spillage.[3]
  • A thick coating can improve handling, by hand or by machine. Thinner coatings may also help with characteristics like flowability.[1]
  • Thick coatings may accommodate additional features such as fertilizers, plant hormones, plant-beneficial microbes, and water-retaining polymers.[1][4]

Specialist machinery is required to safely and efficiently apply the chemical to the seed.[5] A cement mixer is enough for non-hazardous coating materials.[4] The term "seed dressing" is also used to refer to the process of removing chaff, weed seeds and straw from a seed stock.

  1. ^ a b c Pedrini, Simone; Merritt, David J.; Stevens, Jason; Dixon, Kingsley (February 2017). "Seed Coating: Science or Marketing Spin?" (PDF). Trends in Plant Science. 22 (2): 106–116. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2016.11.002. PMID 27979716.
  2. ^ Matthews, G.A. (2000). "Chapter 12: Seed treatment, dust and granule application". Pesticide Application Methods. Blackwell Science Ltd. pp. 253–267. ISBN 0632054735.
  3. ^ Callan, I.W. (1975). "Achievements and limitations of seed treatments". Outl. Agric. 8 (5): 271–274. doi:10.1177/003072707500800504. S2CID 157582780.
  4. ^ a b Rocha, Inês; Ma, Ying; Souza-Alonso, Pablo; Vosátka, Miroslav; Freitas, Helena; Oliveira, Rui S. (6 November 2019). "Seed Coating: A Tool for Delivering Beneficial Microbes to Agricultural Crops". Frontiers in Plant Science. 10: 1357. doi:10.3389/fpls.2019.01357. PMC 6852281. PMID 31781135.
  5. ^ Harris, D.A. (1975). "The application of chemicals to seed". Outl. Agric. 8 (5): 275–280. doi:10.1177/003072707500800505. S2CID 157559918.