Quality of corn seed industrial seed treatment (IST) and on-farm treatment (OFT) in Brazilian agribusiness

Abstract: Seed treatment is important for protecting seed and seedling from pests and/or pathogens. Seed treatment can be performed generally in two ways: industrial seed treatment (IST), performed by seed companies, or on-farm treatment (OFT). These treatment technologies will affect the final quality of the process. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterize the seed quality profile of ISTs and OFTs in Brazilian agribusiness in terms of functional quality and dose application effectiveness (DAE). Seed samples treated by both processes were collected in 6 producing states of Brazil, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Santa Catarina. To evaluate the functional quality of the treatments, the coating percentage was determined by high-resolution image analysis with GroundEye® equipment, and the insecticide active ingredient DAE amount was determined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Image analysis proved to be a promising technique to evaluate seed coating, in addition, samples treated with “on farm” technology had greater variation and heterogeneity in coating and active ingredient dose, while samples treated industrially showed greater homogeneity, uniformity, effectiveness of applied products. There was a strong positive correlation between coating with phytosanitary products and DAE in treated corn seeds, important parameters in the evaluation of the quality of the treatment.