Seed Treatment.pptx

A presentation on "Seed Treatment".

1. SEED TREATMENTS Presented By : Shambhavi Singh M.Sc.Ag. Seed Science & Technology Dptt. Of Seed Science & Technology, Agriculture & Allied Sciences, HNBGU

2. INTRODUCTION In  agriculture and   horticulture ,  seed treatment  or  seed dressing  is application of chemical, typically antimicrobial or  fungicidal , with which seeds are treated (or "dressed") prior to planting. Less frequently,  insecticides  are added. Seed treatments can be an environmentally more friendly way of using pesticides as the amounts used can be very small. It is usual to add colour to make treated seed less attractive to birds, and easier to see and clean up in the case of an accidental spillage. Specialist machinery is required to safely and efficiently apply the chemical to the seed. A seed coating is a thicker form of covering of seed and may contain fertiliser, growth promoters and or seed treatment as well as an inert carrier and a polymer outer shell. The term "seed dressing" is also used to refer to the process of removing  chaff , weed seeds and straw from a seed stock.

3. SEED TREATMENTS & BENEFITS Seed Treatment : Seed treatment refers to the application of fungicide, insecticide, or a combination of both, to seeds so as to disinfect and disinfest them from seed-borne or soil-borne pathogenic organisms and storage insects. It also refers to the subjecting of seeds to solar energy exposure, immersion in conditioned water, etc. The seed treatment is done to achieve the following benefits . Benefits : Prevents spread of plant diseases Protects seed from seed rot and seedling blights Improves germination Provides protection from storage insects Controls soil insects

4. SEED THAT MUST BE TREATED 1) Injured Seeds:  Any break in the seed coat of a seed affords an excellent opportunity for fungi to enter the seed and either kill it, or awaken the seedling that will be produced  from it.  Seeds suffer mechanical injury during combining and threshing operations, or from being dropped from excessive heights.  They may also be injured by weather or improper storage. 2) Diseased seed:  Seed may be infected by disease organisms even at the time of harvest, or may become infected during processing, if processed on contaminated machinery or if stored in contaminated containers or warehouses. 3) Undesirable soil conditions:  Seeds are sometimes planted under unfavourable soil conditions such as cold and damp soils, or extremely dry soils.  Such unfavourable soil conditions may be favourable to the growth and development of certain fungi spores enabling them to attack and damage the seeds. 4) Disease-free seed:  Seeds are invariably infected, by disease organisms ranging from no economic consequence to severe economic consequences.  Seed treatment provides a good insurance against diseases, soil-borne organisms and thus affords protection to weak seeds enabling them to germinate and produce seedlings.

5. SEED TREATMENT : TYPES Types of Seed Treatment Pre sowing seed treatments Pre storage treatments Mid storage treatments

6. PRE SOWING SEED TREATMENTS A. Pre sowing seed treatments Pre sowing seed treatments includes the following I . Chemical treatments to improve germination and vigour potential. II . Insecticidal and fungicidal treatment. III . Special treatments

7. CHEMICAL SEED TREATMENTS I. Chemical treatments to improve germination and vigour potential. Soaking / treating the seeds with nutrients vitamins and micronutrients etc. Paddy: Seeds can be soaked in 1 % KCl solution for 12 hours. Sorghum: Seeds could be soaked in NaCl2 (1 %) or KH2PO4 (1%) for 12 hours. Pulses: Seeds can be soaked in ZnSO4, MgSO4 and MnSO4 100 ppm solution for 4 hours.

8. FUNGICIDAL SEED TREATMENTS II. Seed Treatment Fungicides Fungicidal seed treatment may be divided into three categories, depending on the nature and purpose of the treatment. Seed disinfection - Disinfection is the elimination of a pathogen which has penetrated into living cells of the seed, infected it and become established-for example, loose smut of barley and wheat. Seed disinfestations - Disinfestations is the control of spores and other forms of pathogenic organisms found on the surface of the seed. Seed protection - Seed protection is chemical treatment to protect the seed and young seedling from pathogenic organisms in the soil.

9. SEED TREATMENT PRODUCTS Organo Mercurial: Organo mercurials are recommended for the treatment of small grains, flax, cotton and safflower. Proper dosage is critical. Over-treatment may result in seed injury and under-treatment may fail to adequately control disease. Inorganic Mercurial: The use of inorganic mercurial’s for treating seeds is practically limited to mercuric chloride, mercurous chloride and mercuric oxide. These materials when used are limited primarily to seeds, roots , tubers, garden and vegetable crops. Organic non-mercurial: The use of organic non-mercurial such as Thirum and Captan has considerably increased in the recent past. Generally, they are less effective than the organic mercurial but are less damaging to the seeds and less dangerous to persons handling the seed. Inorganic Non-mercurial: Copper carbonate, copper sulphate, cuprous oxides constitute the major inorganic non-mercurial compounds which are used as fungicides. 

10. INSECTICIDAL SEED TREATMENTS Seed Treatment Insecticides Insecticides are often applied to seed to control or reduce insect damage to seed during storage and, to a lesser degree, to prevent damage from such insects as wireworms and seed corn maggots in the soil. Combinations Insecticides/Pesticides Since some pesticides are selective in their control of pests, many times two or more compounds are combined in the treater tank, or an extra tank may be used, to give the spectrum of control needed.

11. SPECIAL SEED TREATMENTS III . Special Treatments A: Seed hardening treatment B:Seed fortification C: Moist sand conditioning D: Seed infusion E: Seed pelleting F: Osmotic priming G: Fluid drilling H: Separation of viable seeds Seed Hardening Seed Pelleting Seed Priming

12. PRE STORAGE SEED TREATMENTS B. Pre storage treatments Pre storage treatments of harvest-fresh seed are primarily aimed towards protection against deteriorate senescence during storage. Seed storage which is again threatened by insect and pathogen attack, can also be taken care of by prescribed pre storage seed treatments. Halogenation > Replacement of one hydrogen atom with halogen is known as halogenations. The compounds chlorine, bromine and iodine are known as halogen compounds. In seed technology pre storage seed treatment by halogens at room temperature is termed as halogenations. Antioxidant treatment > Nutrient-derived antioxidants like ascorbic acid (vitamin C), tocopherradical tocotrienols (vitamin E), carotenoids and other low molecular weight compounds such as glutathione and lipoic acid are involved in neutralizing free radicals. Seed sanitation > Seeds are surface sterilized with bleach solution (30% commercial bleach + 0.02% Triton X-100) for 15 min, washed 3 times with sterile water, and placed at 4C overnight prior to Planting.

13. MID STORAGE SEED TREATMENTS C. Mid storage treatments Seeds in storage accumulate damage to cell membranes during senescence. Mid storage seed treatments are capable of reducing the age induced damages and restoring the seed vigour to a certain extent besides, the seed viability and productivity of stored seeds are also improved. Hydration – Dehydration > It is the process of soaking the low and medium vigour seeds in water with or without added chemicals usually for short durations to raise the seed moisture content to 25 – 30% and drying back the seeds to safe limits for dry storage. Types of H-D treatments Soaking – Drying (S-D) Dipping – Drying (D-D) Spraying – Drying (Sp- D) Moisture equilibration – drying (ME – D) Moist sand conditioning – drying (MSC-D)

14. SEED TREATING EQUIPMENTS SEED TREATING EQUIPMENT Commercial seed treaters are designed to apply accurately measured quantities of pesticides to a given weight of seed. Basically, there are three types of commercial seed treaters on the market: dust treaters, slurry treaters, and direct treaters-the Panogen and Mist-O-Matic treaters are examples of direct treaters Dust Treater (Gustafson XL Dry Powder Seed Treater) Slurry Seed Treater Panogen Seed treater Mist-O-Matic Seed Treater Drum Mixer Shovel Mist-O-Matic Drum Mixer Shovel Direct Treater

15. Thank You Reference : Hosseini et al. Dr. J.P. Lakhani’s Article on Seed Treatment Wikipedia : Seed Treatment Seed Technology by Rattan Lal Agrawal