title: Crop protection by seed coating.
abstract: Providence of sufficient and healthy food for increasing human population clears the importance of notice to increasing crop production in company with environmental loss reduction. Growth and yield of every plant with sexual reproduction, depends on germination & emergence of sown seeds. Seed is a small alive plant that its biological function is protection and nutrition of embryo. Biological, chemical and physiological characteristics of seed, affect on plant performance & its resistance to undesirable environmental conditions, and even on its total yield. So attention to seed and try to increase its performance is so important. One of the factors that cause reduction in germination percentage and seedling establishment, is seed disease. It's possible to control these diseases by treating the seed before planting it. Coating the seed with pesticides, is one of the ways to gain this goal. Seed coating is a technique in which several material as fertilizers, nutritional elements, moisture attractive or repulsive agents, plant growth regulators, rhizobium inocolum, chemical & pesticide etc, add to seed by adhesive agents and cause to increase seed performance and germination. Seed coating, leads to increase benefits in seed industry, because seeds can use all of their genetic vigor. This technique is used for seeds of many garden plants, valuable crops (such as corn, sunflower, canola, alfalfa,...) and some of the grasses. In this technique that was first used in coating cereal seeds in 1930, a thin and permeable layer of pesticide is stuck on seed surface and prevent damage of seedborn pathogens. This layer is melted or splited after absorption of moisture and suitable temperature by seed, and let the radical to exit the seed. In this approach materials are used accurately with seed, evaporation & leakage of pesticide and also adverse effects of some pesticides on seeds are diminished, and these factors cause to increase the accuracy and performance of pesticide, decrease their consumption, environmental pollution and costs. This technique in new and there is a few information about it. So after searching and studying about this technique this paper is written to introduce it and its applications in crop protection.
authors.affiliation: University of Tarbiat Modarres, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehsanfar
authors.forename: S A M
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Modarres-Sanavy
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development / Q000592:standards*; D005523:Food Supply; D018525:Germination / Q000502:physiology*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D036226:Seedlings / Q000254:growth & development; D012639:Seeds / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides