The Evolution Of Seed Treatments
February 12, 2009 Seed treatments are nothing new.
In fact, the history of seed treatments can be traced back nearly 340 years. In 1670, a ship carrying wheat sank off the coast of Bristol, England. The ship was close enough to shore that some area farmers were able to salvage some of the wheat. Finding that it was not fit for flour production, a few of the farmers decided to plant it. Smut was the major wheat disease of the day, and it was later noted that the incidence of smut was much less in fields planted in wheat from the wrecked ship versus other fields. It was an “ah, ha!” moment for the concept of seed treatments.
Over the next 100 years, grain seed was treated with a brine made from freshwater and salt, lye, and even urine. They all worked successfully for those times, and the evolutionary process for seed treatments had begun.
In cotton, seed treatments can be traced back as far as the 1960s when protectants were added to planting seed. Next came the many fungicides options, and insecticides, among them Di-Syston and monocrotophos, the active ingredient in the foliar insecticide Azodrin. Later, Orthene became the standard insecticide treatment, and if you were around then, you remember with your nose.
The difference in the original seeds treatments and today’s is as different as the sunken ship and an aircraft carrier. And the application process of coating the seed is just as advanced. Uniformity of coverage has become unparalleled.
Syngenta and Bayer CropScience have been the leaders in new seed-treatments, with a product from Plant Health Care becoming commercially available in 2006.
Bayer CropScience Seed Treatments
Bayer CropScience offers three on-seed treatments — Gaucho Grande, Aeris and Trilex Advanced.
“We have customized products for your production,” says Chris Kleyla, Bayer’s Product Manager – Insecticides. “Growers tell us they want to put as much as they can on the seed. They like that. However, they want to decide what that is.”
Gaucho Grande is an imidacloprid-based insecticide. Imidacloprid is a systemic in the chloronicotinyl-class, and is effective on sucking pests, including thrips and aphids.
“Imidacloprid is excellent against thrips and aphids,” says Chip Graham, Bayer’s Senior Technical Development Specialist. “It also has activity on cutworms. We have some test data that shows a 75% reduction in cutworks in plots.
“And we also see suppression of plant bugs.”
Aeris, is a combination of imidacloprid and thiodicarb. Thiodicarb is also an insecticide, but in the carbamate-class. It has activity on nematodes, especially on the root-knot and reniform species.
“This is the broadest-spectrum insecticide/nematicide on the market,” Graham says.
Trilex Advanced is a trifloxystrobin-based fungicide, effective on soil-borne diseases in cotton, including fusarium, powdery mildew and rhizoctonia.
“We have the flexibility of adding a fungicide to Aeris,” Graham says. “Obviously we want Trilex in combination with Aeris, but you do have that flexibility (not to) in certain situations.”
Bayer continues to position its aldicarb-based, carbamate-class Temik as the gold standard of at-planting insecticides/nematicides. Temik as a sidedress is also an option. “It is a premier product,” says Kleyla. “Temik is the product that is going to give you maximum protection, the broadest spectrum, the longest residual, and the greatest return on investment.”
Syngenta CropScience Seed Treatments
Syngenta offers three products that can be mixed and matched to meet specific needs.
“Syngenta has been involved in cotton seed treatments for the last six or seven years,” says David Long, Technical Crop Manager for Seed Care. “We started off by bringing some of our fungicides – low-use fungicides that were newer chemistries – to the market. We worked with seed companies like Delta Pine Land and Stoneville to provide them with a base fungicide treatment.”
Cruiser is a broad-spectrum insecticide in the neonicotinoid class, especially effective against common sucking pests in cotton.
“In 2001 we had the registration of Cruiser in cotton,” says Long. “From day one it became the market-leading insecticide as a stand alone. It is the only seed-applied insecticide that has activity on the western flower thrips – very similar to Temik. And we have great activity on aphids and the regular cotton thrip.
“Part of the work in Texas, where the western flower thrip is the most predominant thrip, they compare (the control of) Temik and Cruiser as being very similar. We also had great activity on aphids and other thrips,” he continues. “And we have some very surprising data on cotton fleahoppers in Texas. It’s suppression, but it can save someone a spray.”
Avicta has the active ingredient abamectin, which is effective on the common cotton nematodes – root knot, reniform and lance.
Dynasty CST fungicide is a combination of the three active ingredients that offer both contact and systemic protection against the most important cotton seedling diseases, including pythium, fusarium, rhizoctonia and phytophthora.
Avicta, Cruiser and Dynasty make up the all-in-one Avicta Complete Cotton package.
Plant Health Care
The active ingredient in N-Hibit Seed Treatment is harpin protein, which is produced by disease-causing bacteria that attack plants. N-Hibit does not contain pathogens, but the presence of harpin protein turns on internal plant signals that activate natural self defense and growth systems as though the plant was under attack.
“Short of a soil fumigant, nothing gives nematode control in the same sense that you would see with insect control,” says Rick Rice, Director of Sales and Marketing for Plant Health Care in the U.S. “What we are shooting for is to manage the population and keep it down.”
The company says N-Hibit complements other nematode management tools, particularly Temik. “I don’t know that it’s true synergy between the two products, but it has an incremental effect,” says Rice. “You get better control with the combination than you would with either product used alone.”
Rice says improved nematode control can also be expected when N-Hibit is used in combination with the on-seed nematicides from Bayer and Syngenta.
Caption:
Seed coatings and computer-controlled application equipment are as advanced as the active ingredients in seed treatments themselves.
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