Role of seed treatment in insect pest management
Seed treatment is an application of chemicals to the seeds either at the time of sowing or before sowing which is an alternative to traditional foliar or soil treatment.
Efficient function
Application of insecticides to seeds before or at the time of sowing offers the most effective means of protecting the germinating seed or seedling.
The chemical insecticide is absorbed by the plant tissue and transported in the sap through the entire plant through the vascular system, right up to the top leaf.
Natural enemies
The pest ingests the chemical compounds along with the plant juice that is lethal for them.
Natural enemy population such as coccinellids, spiders and chrysoperla remain unharmed.
The efficacy of seed treatment depends upon a mulltitude of interacting factors such as seed type, chemical formulation, compatibility of materials, adjuvants and species of insects etc. Seed treatment with lower doses of imidacloprid, at 5g/kg seed was found effective in controlling jassids up to 60 days after emergence of crop and higher seed cotton yield.
Treatment method
Treatment with marshal 25 DS at 80g/kg of seeds has recorded least population of sucking pests and resulted in higher yield of sunflower. Acetamiprid 20 SP at dosage of 25g a i/kg of seed protects cotton crop up to 35 days against pests.
Seed treatment of sorghum with imidacloprid 70 WS at 15g/kg seeds or thiamethoxam 70 WS at 10g/kg followed by foliar sprays after 30 days with imidacloprid 17.8 SL at 0.01 per cent or thiamethoxam 25 WG at 0.01 per cent were found highly effective for the management of shoot fly and stem borer.
Sharanabasappa
D. Satish
& Satyanarayan
Regional Agricultural Research Station, Raichur
& Department of Genetics and Plant breeding
College of Agriculture
UAS Dharwad
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