Professional seed treatment comes of age

Precise layering of individual treatments is now possible using specialised equipment such as the Cimbria CC50 duo used by Pioneer to keep the chemical(s) away from the seed.

Recent advances have dramatically improved the precision of applying seed treatments and have further highlighted the risks associated with non-professional seed treatments.

Seed is alive and once the viability of seed is harmed, you cannot turn the clock back. Similarly, the effectiveness of chemicals in seed treatments depends on advanced formulation technology and precise application on the seed.

The turning point in the development of professional seed treatment was the high-tech advancements in the equipment that apply seed treatments and the transition to new polymer chemistry for binding and holding the treatment closer to the seed, while remaining water soluble and neutral to the seed itself.

These improvements mean that compared to a decade ago, professional seed treatments today are:

• more uniform on every seed
• more accurate in rate of application
• more diversified formulations that combine two or more active ingredients
• more effective across a wider spectrum of diseases and insect pests
• more cost-effective than broadacre sprays

Figure 1 shows how applying the seed treatment incorrectly can result in significant underloading, which in turn means suboptimal control of the target insect pest or disease, and may also lead to overloading of the chemical, which in turn can result in negative effects on seed viability. The seed treatment in this case was applied using a cement mixer!

It’s amazing what a difference can be achieved with professional application equipment and methods as shown in Figure 2 in terms of uniform loading of the active ingredient(s) on the seed.

Lower rates or inaccurate treatment can also have severe implications on the results achieved by a seed treatment product in the field. Figure 3 shows how under-treatment can result in a decrease in residual activity on aphids of products such as Gaucho insecticide.