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Concept
Seed treatment
Summary
In agriculture and horticulture, a seed treatment is any additional material added to the seed. By the amount of material added, it can be divided into:
A seed dressing, typically containing a "protectant" (pesticide) applied to the seed and possibly some color.
A seed coating, a layer of thin film applied to the seed typically less than 10% of the mass of the original seed.
Seed encrusting, where the applied material is typically 100%–500% of the original seed mass, but the shape is still discernible.
Seed pelleting, where the applied material is so thick that the seed's original shape is not discernible.
Seed treatment 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.
Color makes treated seed less attractive to birds, and easier to see and clean up in the case of an accidental spillage.
A thick coating can improve handling, by hand or by machine. Thinner coatings may also help with characteristics like flowability.
Thick coatings may accommodate additional features such as fertilizers, plant hormones, plant-beneficial microbes, and water-retaining polymers.
Specialist machinery is required to safely and efficiently apply the chemical to the seed. A cement mixer is enough for non-hazardous coating materials. The term "seed dressing" is also used to refer to the process of removing chaff, weed seeds and straw from a seed stock.
The earliest seed dressings were of organo-mercurials used to control pests such as oat smut and bunt of wheat. These were available from the 1930s but were ineffective on Pythium and Fusarium species which are pathogens of many crops including cotton, maize and soya. Thiram was therefore developed as a seed treatment in the 1940s to extend the spectrum of diseases that could be controlled.
In 1949 ICI commercialised a seed treatment with trade name Mergamma A, containing 1% mercury and 20% lindane, an early example of a product designed to protect the seed from both fungal and insect attack.
Official source
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