A Brief Note on Seed Treatments for Sustainable Agriculture

A Brief Note on Seed Treatments for Sustainable Agriculture https://www.walcoseed.com.au/blog/a-brief-note-on-seed-treatments-for-sustainable-agriculture/

Seed treatment is a process that helps to protect seeds from damage and enhance their growth. It can also prevent the spread of several plant diseases and improve germination. Seeds are mainly treated by bioproducts and chemicals.

In this blog, we are going to discuss different types of seed treatments and the conditions under which seeds should be treated.

Seed dressing: Seed dressing in agriculture involves the treatment of various crop seeds with fungicides and/or insecticides in order to combat seed & soil borne fungal diseases, and above and belowground insects.

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Seed coating: Seed coating is another popular process in which a binder is mainly used with a formulation to improve the adherence to the seeds. This coating needs advanced treatment techniques which are only used by professional applicators in the industry.

Seed protection: Weevil are a big problem in Australia and leaving seed for an extended period without any form of insecticide treatment or aerated silos leaves seed prone to extensive damage.

Seed pelleting: Last but not the least, seed pelleting is one of the sophisticated seed treatment processes, resulting in changing the shape of seeds to improve handling and pelletibility. This process needs advanced application machinery and tools to operate.

Conditions under which seed should or shouldn't be treated Injured Seeds: A broken seed can be the perfect place for the growth of fungi. It can kill the seed. Apart from that, seeds may suffer from a mechanical injury during threshing and combining operations. Seeds can also be injured by harsh weather conditions or improper storage.

Diseased seed: Seed disease is another major problem to consider. A seed can be infected by disease organisms during harvesting or become infected while seed processing, or if stored in contaminated warehouses & containers. Seed for resowing should be disease free.

Improper soil conditions: Sometimes seeds are planted under poor soil conditions such as damp and cold soils, or excessive dry soils. Such poor soil conditions can be ideal for the growth and certain fungi spores development enabling them to damage and attack the seeds.

Disease-free seed: Seed treatment offers proper insurance against soil-borne organisms, diseases, & thus affords protection that can enable them to produce and germinate seedlings.

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The importance of seed treatment is huge. It can protect germinating seeds as well as seedlings against seed and soil-borne pests & diseases.

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