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Why Precision-Cote?
Precision
Coated seed has many benefits and advantages to offer
turfgrass and forage growers alike. These include the
most effective method of preinoculation available,
significant benefits to the seedling from the starter
fertilizer package contained in the coat and the fact
that it is an economical, effective method of seed
treatment. Coating is considered the simplest and
safest way to treat any seed with virtually any
agricultural chemical or growth promoting regulator
(GPR).
1)
PRE-INOCULATION
Pre-inoculation is the addition of nodule bacteria
(rhizobium) to the seed, weeks or even months in advance
of sowing. It ensures that the bacteria are in close
proximity to the roots of the germinating seedling and
thus, in a position to cause fast, effective nodulation.
It is
true that certain areas of the U.S. do have populations
of rhizobium meliloti (alfalfa bacteria) and that in
many cases, uninoculated alfalfa seed would nodulate
when sown in these soils. It is also true that the yield
of many of the plants infected by these native bacteria
would be significantly greater had they been nodulated
by the more effective strains of rhizobium used in the
Precision-Cote®
and
Rhizoseal®
processes.
2) NUTRIENT
BENEFITS
Seed
coating creates a nutritious environment around the
establishing seedling and increases vigor during its
critical early development. The main nutrient included
in our seed coatings is phosphorus. Twenty percent of
all ,
Precision-Cote®,
and
Nutriprill®
grass seed coatings and nine percent of
Precision-Cote®
legume coating is phosphatic fertilizer, which is
essential for root development and seedling
establishment. Even on soils with sufficiently high
phosphorus levels to sustain normal growth, localized
placement is very beneficial. It is desirable from the
standpoint of accessibility to the establishing seedling
and in order to reduce fixation. Phosphorus does not
move in the soil, therefore, the nearer it can be placed
to the seed, the more effectively it can be utilized by
the seedling.
3)
SEED TREATMENTS
Seed
treatments are often used on turf and forages. Research
data available from trials using various seed treatments
indicate that they can have a detrimental affect on the
viability of some strains of rhizobium. Research with
coated seed products containing seed treatments has
shown good compatibility between them and rhizobium when
the rhizobium are encased by the layering effect of the
coating materials.
4)
PROTECTION FROM
STRESS CONDITIONS
The coating
materials, as well as the physical barrier created by
the coat itself, protect the rhizobium and seed from low
pH conditions. Calcium Carbonate is very effective in
buffering soil pH in the micro-environment around the
seed. The pH range of coated seed (6.5 to 7) is optimum
for nutrient uptake and while desiccation can quickly
reduce rhizobium populations, the coat offers the
bacteria protection from the effects of drying winds and
sun. This is especially beneficial when forage legumes
are sown by air or broadcast.
5)
PROTECTION FROM
ANIMALS, BIRDS AND FERTILIZERS
Most
rodents and birds do not recognize coated seed as food.
The increased size of the seed is one-reason birds do
not take it and the coating materials, especially the
dyes and phosphate used in turfgrasses, are not at all
palatable to either rodents or birds. Some fertilizers,
e.g. superphosphate and sulphate of ammonia, can’t be
mixed with uncoated seed. The coating layer protects
both the seed and the rhizobium from the harmful effects
of these fertilizers.
6)
BALLISTIC PROPERTIES
Coated
grass seed is approximately twice the weight of bare
seed. Aerial sown grasses penetrate ground cover more
effectively than bare seed and thus make better contact
with the seedbed. Some seeds, e.g. meadow foxtail and
bromegrass, are difficult to sow due to their very light
weight. Coating can increase the weight of these
species, by as much as three times and this, combined
with the increased size of the seed, facilitates sowing.
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