Week 4 - Seed Treatment

Hello to my readers! We meet again for another topic for FPA150. So in this post I will be telling you guys about seed treatment. 

Seed treatment or seed dressing is a chemical, typically antimicrobial or fungicidal, with which seeds are treated (or "dressed") prior to planting. Less frequently, insecticides are added. 

The importance of seed treatment 

1.  To protect the seeds from pests and diseases.
2.  To make sure when we sow the seed the percentage of disease attack decreases.
3. Improve the germination
4. To break the seed dormancy
5. To soften the seed coat

The advantages of seed treatment :

1. Protects germinating seeds and seedlings against soil and seed borne pathogens/insects.
2. Seed germination enhancement.
3. Early and uniform establishment and growth
4. Enhances nodulation in legume crop.
5. Better than soil and foliar application.

Our lecturer briefed to us about Seed treatment.

There are a few treatments for seed which is pesticidal seed treatment, pre-sowing treatment and physical seed treatment.

Pesticidal seed treatment - This is to make sure the pesticide protect the seed.

(Mainly use by industries)

Applying method : Seed coating - ( Direct ) : Coat with chemical. eg : fungicide and pesticide.

                                   Film coating - ( Nutrients + pesticide + fungicide )

                                 Pelleting method - Roll for 4 hours with the pesticide 

                                                               ( Seeds have a tendency to break easily)

Pre-sowing treatment (More efficient) - Seed is soak in an osmotic solution. 

                                                                                    (nutrients, pesticide,fungicide)

                                                                                   - 4 to 5 hours soaking

                                                                                   - Cost is high

Physical seed treatment -  Helps the seed radical to germinate well

• Solar heat treatment
• Hot water treatment
• Dry heat treatment
• Aerated steam treatment ( Soften the coating)                                                    

This are some information that I have gathered about seed treatment. What do you guys think?

For the next part, we were briefed about the ways to treat the seed of oil palm.

We used 6 gram of Thiram mixed with 3 litres of water.

As you can see here, the Planters Executives briefed to us about the uses of Thiram.

This is the thiram that we used.

Here's an extra information for you guys about the oil palm seed.

Hope you enjoy and gain a new knowledge from this post. For more information about the seed treatment, you can click and watch the video that I have attached below.

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