Seed treatment involves subjecting seeds to compounds, processes, or energy forms to enhance germination. There are physical (e.g. hot water), chemical, and biological seed treatments. Hot water treatment kills diseases but can damage old seeds. Scarification mechanically or chemically damages seed coats to allow water penetration. Stratification exposes seeds to temperatures to overcome dormancy. Chemical treatments use salts or other compounds. Ultrasound increases seed permeability and germination in some crops like chickpeas but decreases it in others like peppers. It is a non-chemical method that increases alpha-amylase and germination speed.

1. Seed Treatments
Basavaraj Panjagal
Ph.D Research
Scholar
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Basavaraj Panjagal

2. Introduction
Seed treatment is a "genetic term which does not specify the
application method but indicates that the seeds are subjected to
compound (nutrient, chemical, hormones), a process (such as
wettingand drying) or to vigorous energy forms (such as heat radiation,
electricity, magnetism)etc to enhance the planting value of seed".
Scott, 1989
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3. • Types of Seed treatments
• 1.Physical treatment:
a) Hot water treatment
b) Hot air
c) Scarification
d) Anaerobic
e) Solar treatment
• 2.Chemical seed treatments:
• 3. Biological seed treatments: Bio agents, plant extracts, red
earth..
• Methods of seed treatments
• 1. Manual methods
• 2. Mechanical method of seed treatment
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4. Hot water Treatment
• Kills most disease causing organisms on or
within seed.
• Suggested for eggplant, pepper, tomato,
cucumber, carrot, spinach, lettuce, celery,
cabbage, turnip, radish, and other
crucifers.
• Pre-warm loose seed in woven cotton bag
for 10 minutes at 100 0F water.
• Old seed can be severely damaged by this
treatment.
• After treatment, dip bags in cold water to
stop heating action, spread seeds to dry.
• It is recommended to apply protective
seed fungicide to hot-water treated seed.
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5. Crop Temperature (0F) Time
Brussels sprouts, cabbage, eggplant,
spinach and tomato
122 25
Broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber,
carrot, collard, kale, kohlrabi,
rutabaga, turnip
122 20
Mustard, cress, and radish 122 15
Pepper 125 30
Lettuce, celery and celeriac 118 30
Temperature and time requirements of various vegetable crops for hot water treatment
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6. Seed Scarification
• Mechanical scarification
✓This denotes rubbing or
aberration of seeds against hard
surface.
✓It is done to partially damage
the hard seed coat.
✓The hard seed coat is made
permeable to water.
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7. • Acid scarification
✓Treating the seeds in sulphuric acid for a
pre- standardized duration.
✓It is done in order to overcome physical
dormancy caused by hard seed coat.
✓Done by soaking the seeds in
concentrated sulphuric acid for a pre-
standardized duration with often stirring
and washing the seeds for 5-10 minutes
to remove all traces of acid.
✓Shade dry the seeds.
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8. Seed Stratification
It is a method of exposing imbibed seeds to higher or low temperatures for
a period of time. It is done to overcome mechanical and morphological dormancy.
Warm Stratification : Exposing the seeds to either alternating temperature of 20-
25°C or constant temperature of 30°C for 2 weeks to 16 weeks depending on
species.
Cold stratification : It is a method of exposing imbibied seeds to lower
temperatures for a period of time.
• It is done to overcome physiological dormancy.
• Seeds should be soaked in several times their volume of water before prechilling,
at 3-5°C for 48 h.
• After soaking, the water is drained off and moist seeds are stored at 3-5°C for the
period appropriate to each species.
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9. Seed treatment with bio-agents
• This term basically refers to
products that are derived from
natural material such as plants,
bacteria, and fungi.
• To facilitate fixing of atmosphere
nitrogen and conserve fertilizer
utilization
• To form a coating that prevents
the development of different seed
borne diseases.
• Carrier - Rice or sorghum gruel or
Jaggery.
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10. Solar heat treatment
• Very effective against loose smut
of wheat. (Luthra, 1941 and Guldhe et al.,
1985)
• Solar heat treatment is easily
practiced and less expensive.
• Effectiveness on commonly
occurring seed borne fungi.
• Usually done by drying the seeds
for 12 hours in mixture with
sand under direct solar heat.
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11. Chemical Treatment of seeds
• Aqueous solution of:
• sodium chloride,
• sodium sulphate,
• potassium nitrate,
• calcium chloride,
• ammonium sulphate,
• potassium chloride,
• zinc sulphate,
• potassium dihydrogen phosphate.
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12. Crops
Chemicals and
concentration Methodology
1. Pearlmillet 2% Potassium chloride Dissolve 20 gm of the salt in 1000 ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in
650 ml of solution for 10 hrs.dry back to original moisture.
2. Sorghum 2% Potassium dihydrogen
phosphate
Dissolve 20g of salt in 1000 ml of the solution for 16 hrs. and dry back
to original moisture
3. Cotton 2% Potassium chloride Dissolve 20g of the salt in 1000ml of water. Soak 1kg of seed in 650
ml of solution for 10 hrs and dry back to original moisture.
4. Sunflower 2% Potassium chloride Dissolve 20g of the salt in 1000 ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seed in 650
ml of solution for 12 hrs. and dry back to original moisture.
5. Pulses 100 ppm Zinc sulphate Dissolve 100 mg of the salt in 1000 ml of water. Soak 1 kg of seeds in
350 ml for 3 hrs. and dry back to original weight or moisture. Before
soaking them in water or solution, precondition the seeds for 1 hr by
keeping them in between two moist gunny bags
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13. Seed Colouring
Seeds coloured with non-toxic dyes like methyl red, bromocresol green,
methylene blue and rosebengal dyes.
Help in lot identity, variety identity, brand specificity, identity of A.B.R. line, to
indicate the efficiency of seed treatment etc.
To colour faded seeds caused due to ageing but still vigorous.
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14. Equipments used for Seed Treatments
1.Drum mixer:
• This equipment is used for different
kind of seeds with Chemicals in powder
form.
• Seed treatment drum is made up of
angle, iron frame and G.I sheet made
drum.
• In one batch 10-15kg seed can be
treated with chemicals.
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15. ➢A slurry is prepared by mixing the Chemical
with water.
➢The treatment material to be applied as
slurry is accurately measured through a
simple mechanism comprised of a slurry
Cup and seed dump pan.
➢The cup introduces a given amount of
Slurry with each dump of seed into a mixing
Chamber where the seeds are mixed
Thoroughly.
2. Slurry Treater
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16. 3. Direct treaters
➢Direct treaters are the most recent development
and include the Panogen and Mist-o-matic treaters.
➢Mist-o-matic treaters is being used more widely.
➢The mist-o-matic treater applies chemical as a mist
directly to the seed.
➢The treater is equipped with a large treatment tank,
a pump and a return that minimizes the level in the
small reservoir from which the seed is fed.
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17. 4. Grain Auger:
✓ Liquid materials can be dripped on the
seeds as they enter a grain auger.
✓ By the time seeds have left the auger the
chemical is spread on the seeds.
5. Shovel:
✓ Seeds are spred on a clean dry surface
10-15 cm in depth.
✓ The proper amount of chemicals is
diluted with water and sprinkled over
the seed.
✓ Mixing is done with shovel turning the
seed at least 20 times. 17
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18. Impacts of Ultrasonic Waves
on Seeds: A Mini-Review
Meisam Nazari1,2* and Mohammad Eteghadipour3
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19. Ultra sound technology
• Ultrasonic waves are mechanical waves of
a frequency higher than 20000 Hz, which
are not detectable by human’s audiation
system.
• This technology is most commonly used in
medical field.
• The ultrasound technology has been
successfully used in many mass transfer
processes in food, such as in drying,
extraction, osmotic dehydration, desalting
and hydration.
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20. Mechanism
• The ultrasounds impose a mechanical pressure on the seed’s cell wall.
• This pressure increases the seed’s porosity, and consequently rises
the seed’s permeability to oxygen and water.
• The alpha-amylase activity inside the seed increases which leads to
increased hydrolysis of the starch.
• Finally, the germination percentage and speed are enhanced.
US
Mechanical pressure on the seed coat
Alpha amylase activity increased
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21. Effect of Ultra sonic Sound on Germination of
Different Crops
Crop Effect on germination
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) 32% increase
Wheat (Triticumaestivum) 2% increase
Watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) 2% increase
Pepper (Capsium annuum) 19% decrease
Snail medick (Medicago
scutellata )
63.3% increase
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23. Advantages
• Applied easier compared to the other methods like sand scarification,
acid scarification, and other available methods.
• Ultrasounds only impose mechanical pressure on seeds to break the
dormancy; therefore, no chemicals would contaminate the seeds.
Disadvantages
• Not applicable to all seeds.
• Small size of the available apparatuses.
• A scaling-up is required in order to manufacture huge ultrasound-
emitting sets specialized for seed priming purposes.
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