Introduction to Biological Seed Dressing
The foundational role of seed dressings in agriculture cannot be overstated, especially in the context of sustainable farming and enhancing crop resilience. Biological seed dressings, employing beneficial microbes to improve seed germination, seedling health, and establishment, represent a pivotal advancement in this domain.
Early microbial colonization in the first 7-14 days around the seed is instrumental, setting the stage for subsequent plant-microbial interactions that significantly influence plant health and growth.
Biological seed dressings leverage this short-lived yet crucial window. By establishing a beneficial microbial population early on, these dressings minimize the colonization of pathogenic microbes, thereby safeguarding the seedling during its most vulnerable phase.
The bacteria in our products are at the forefront of this approach. These microbes contribute to a range of beneficial outcomes, including biofertilization, phytohormone production, and the synthesis of extracellular enzymes. Their role is to enhance nutrient availability, stimulate root growth, and provide a first line of defense against soil-borne pathogens.
New Seed Dressing Products from AdvancedAg
A*LIVE Seed
Product Form: Supplied as a powder, that requires dilution into water and mixing before use (see procedures below). Contains three Bacillus (amyloliquefaciens, licheniformis, and subtilis)
Recommended Target Crops: Effective for general use as a seed dressing. Our bacillus-based seed treatments show efficacy with a diverse set of crop types. Formulating this product with 3 species of bacillus allow for the broadest possible use.
Benefits: A*LIVE Seed helps exclude pathogens, is effective at biofertilization, phytohormone production, and hydrolytic enzyme synthesis. Through thousands of in-lab tests, A*LIVE Seed is scientifically proven to enhance drought tolerance, disease resistance and rapid germination.
What to Expect
We have extensively tested many seed treatment formulas, and when applied per directions, you will see improved germination rates, more vigorous and healthy seedling growth, and overall, this will be the best method to ensure that your crop is as healthy and vigorous as possible.
Depending on the crop and procedures, these benefits will be achieved without brewing or significant labour.
Below is an image from the very first field trial on field peas.
Control: 47bu/acre
Treated: 62bu/acre
Follow Up Doses
While seed treatment provides the needed beneficial bacteria during the most optimal times, the changing environment in the soil, establishment of the rhizosphere and phyllosphere all dictate that follow up treatment is prudent and effective, paving the way for optional use of ACF-SR and SRP. Any one of our biological products will yield results, but can all be used differently and in conjunction with each other.
A*LIVE Seed at seeding time
ACF-SR shortly after seeding to mid-vegetative
SRP at early reproductive stage
Research and Data
Our seed dressing research is specially designed to properly simulate field dose rates and account for typical environmental stresses. A*LIVE Seed data showed germination rates increasing by 33%, root growth is much greater, and coleoptile formation rate was doubled.
Below is data from 72 Brandon wheat seeds per tray where we tested one seed dressing formula vs another:
A photographic example of this difference is shown below, with the red line indicating 3 inches above the soil line, for treated and control trays:
Call us today for more information on this revolutionary product development.
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