Seed Coating methods in vegetable crops

1. Seed Coating: A Tool for
Stand Establishment
Submitted to
Dr. Deepak Arora Babanjeet
L-2021-H-85-D
PhD Vegetable Science

2. Introduction
Seed is the pivot of
Agriculture
“ Care with the seed – Joy with
harvest”
3
Seed quality is one of the most talked
about subjects among farming
communities.
1
2

3. Seed Coating
Application of coating substance to
the seed to enhance seed placement
and performance without altering
shape or placing chemicals on the
seed coat which regulate and
improve germination.
Copeland and McDonald 2001
1930
First were developed
for cereals seeds by
Germain's a British
seed company.
1960
Large-scale
commercial use of
coating began with
precision sowing
1948
Vogelsang was the
first advocate of
seed pelleting.
1974
Agrosaw Seed
Company revealed
some 43% of the
American and
European vegetable
growers used
precision planting
History

4. Why seed is
coated?

6. The right
product
Sufficient
amount of total
liquid
Right
application
process
Basic parts of seed coating equations

7. Material used for coating

9. Dan et al 2014

10. Factors affecting seed
coating
Particle Size
Exact specifications of
the adhesive
Porosity of coating
Distribution of
Coating material

11. Seed industry and Academia outcomes or claims on coating treatment
Academia
Industry
Taylor et al 2008

12. Methods of coating
Film Coating Seed colouring
Seed pelleting

13. Why Film Coating?
 Provides seed with
high flow ability.
 Protection from
pathogens.
 Nice appearance of
seed.
 Medium to carry
pesticides, biological
and micronutrient
substances.
Polymer
1
Colourant
2
Plasticizer
3
13

14. The most common reason to
film coat field grown crops is to
use the film as a carrier for
pesticides .It is very common to
see sweet corn coated with a
film that contains a fungicide.
This aids in seedling stand
establishment especially for
early season sowing where the
soil temperature is low and
seedling emergence is delayed.
Fig.(maize and pumpkin)

15. 15
Intellicoat Smart Seed Technology
Polykote Technology
Applying precise amount of active ingredient along
with liquid material, directly on the seeds surface
without obscuring its shape and total weight may
increase up to 10%
Water uptake of corn seeds were significantly
reduced when the seeds were coated with intellicoat
polymer compared to uncoated seeds after 48h at 10
and 25° C. (Johnson et al 2002)

16. Effect of Polymer Coating
Kaushik et al
(2014)
Seed treatment with polymer @
9ml+ thiram 2g/kg of seed recorded
significant shoot length, root length,
seedling length, viability, fresh
weight & higher vigor index while
high germination rate was observed
for seed coated with polymer
@6ml+ thiram 2g/kg of seed after
6month of storage.
Rathinavel K
(2015)
Cotton Seed coated with polymer
“polycote” or “polyloc” @3 ml kg-1 +
thiram @ 2.5 g /kg+ super red @ 5 ml/kg
+ cruiser @ 5 g/kg packed in polythene
bag (700 gauge) and stored at ambient
condition for 26 months, resulted in less
(%) loss of viability and at 26th month of
storage it was 70% where as in control
56%, less seed infection, high seedling
vigour and field emergence.
Sherin (2003)
Seeds of maize treated with
polymer @3g/kg of seed
dissolved in 5ml of water
recorded high germination (%),
speed of emergence, seedling
growth, dehydrogenase activity
and chlorophyll content.
16

17. Seed colouring
1
2
3
4
Brand identification
Distinct and attractive look
Improve its marketability
Acts as insect and bird repellant
Beetroot
Opuntia
Turmeric
Henna
Marigold
Jamun
Copper sulphate
Bromocresol green
Congo red
Turquoise blue
Rhodomine – B
Potassium
permagnate
Natural
Dyes
Synthetic
Dyes

18. Effect of seed colouring
Asha Shivpuri
(1997)
Ethanol extracts of
Tagetus erecta
showed fungitoxic
properties against
pathogenic fungi like
Alternaria sp.,
Colletotrichum sp.,
Fusarium sp. &
Rhizoctonia sp.
Chander & Ahmed
(1983)
Turmeric rhizome
powder at 5% level
afforded good protection
against Callosobruchis
chinensis and
Trogoderma granarium
in stored grains.
Kurdikeri et al
(2001)
Maize seeds when
treated with potassium
permanganate at 10%
conc. showed slightly
deleterious effect on
seed quality.
Kurdikeri and
Vishwaprasad
(2000)
Amaranthus red,
sunset yellow,
methylene blue and
potassium
permanganate either
at 0.5 or 0.1 %
concentration could be
used for colouring
maize seeds without
any harmful effect on
field emergence.

19. Innovations of Seed Coating Formulation Technologies
1. Micro emulsion gel technologies

20. 2. Nano nutrient
What
Nanometer = 10-9 m
Alternative
definition: smaller
than 500 nm and
altered properties.
WHY
More beneficial as
compared to chemical
fertilizers
3x increase in NUE
80-100 times less
requirement
10 times more
tolerant
Complete bio-
TYPES
Nano porous Zeolite
Zinc Nano Fertilizer
Nano Herbicide
Nano Pesticide

21.  First in the presence of water, it results in in situ
generation of hydrogen peroxide, thereby
breaking down the starch more rapidly.
 It acts as a chemical messenger by activating the
brassinosteroid pathway, thereby augmenting
CO2 fixation and carbohydrate metabolism.

22. Conclusion
The major molecular players involved in the
germination of the seeds.
Proposed outline of the mechanism of action of FeS2
on spinach seed in enhancing germination

24. Treatment detail

25. Effect of different plant extracts on seed quality parameters of okra

26. Active Components
(Source)
Crop Application Mode/Type of
Experiment
Main Findings Reference
Calcium oxide
(CaO) SYN
Tomato Application of CaO, bentonite
and talc combination by
pelleting
Increased field emergence (23%)
and seedling growth over control.
Better storability of pelleted seeds
after 5 months
Javed et al
2020
Zinc sulfate (ZnSO4)
SYN (OR) Borax SYN
(OR) Arappu leaf
powder (OR)
Cowpea Application of ZnSO4 , Borax
and arappu leaf powder at 250
mg, 100 mg and 250 g/kg seed
respectively by seed pelleting
Increased emergence and grain
yield by 32% over control. Seed
pelleting with arappu leaf powder
alone and in combination with
ZnSO4 improved yield parameters
Masuthi et al
2009
Nutrient Coating
* Source of material: Synthetic Chemicals—SYN, Natural products or derivatives—NP, Biologicals—BIO, Mineral—MIN,
substances may or may not be Organically approved—OR.

27. Active Components
(Source*)
Crop Application Mode/Type of Experiment Main Findings Reference
Plant growth
promoting bacteria:
BIO
Cowpea Seed coating— Pseudomonas libanensis Plant biomass and seed yield and
germination significantly enhanced
101% and 52% compared to the control
Ma et al 2019
Soy flour: NP Broccoli Seed coating— Application of plant-based
protein to the seeds
All treatments with >30% soy flour in
the coating had greater germination and
fresh and dry weight, leaf area compared
with the control
Amirkhani et al
2016
Amino acid mixtures:
NP
Cucumber Seed coating— Application of 5 different amino
acid mixtures to seeds
Total leaf area and dry weight were 35–
50% and 26–30% higher for all amino
acid mixtures (containing proline,
hydroxyproline or their combination,
amino acid mixture without proline
and/or hydroxyproline) in comparison
with no amino acid in coating
Wilson et al 2013
Chitosan
nanoparticles: NP
Chilli Seed coating—20 and 100 ppm chitosan using
top-spray fluidized bed coating equipment
Chitosan treatments enhanced
germination (6–7%) and decreased seed
fungal infection (12–28%) compared
with the intact control seeds
Chookhongkha et al
2012
Chitosan: NP Artichoke Seed coating—10 mL of 3% or 4% (w/v)
chitosans solution applied to 100 g seeds
4% (w/v) Chitosan B enhanced seedling
growth (20%) compared with non-treated
seeds
Ziani et al 2013
*Source of material: Natural products or derivatives—NP, Biologicals—BIO, substances may be Organically approved—OR.
Efficacy of Biostimulants as seed Coatings

28. CONCLUSION
1. Seed management is an inevitable practice for
successful crop production.
2. Advance seed treatments like chitosan and
nano nutrient seed coating are the best way to
provide nutrition for better establishment
3. The treatment will control seed borne and soil
borne pathogens
4. The treatment with botanicals will be chief used
by farmers.
5. Besides, there is scope for seed treatment to get
better quality of seeding and for good storage
conditions.
 COMPULSORY SEED TREATMENT TO IMPROVE THE
QUALITY OF SEEDS.

29. Thank you