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 Enquiries SEED News - jan/feb 2005
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This section is coordinated by the professors from the Federal University of Pelotas-Brazil, with the objective of answering the inquiries sent by the readers.
Send your question to e-mail: silmar@seednews.inf.br
I received a lot of genetic rice seeds, in which about 2% of the seeds were peeled. I would like to ask if it is possible to protect them through a treatment with fungicide.
In the seed harvesting process, it is normal that some get peeled, however, during seed conditioning they are removed by the air screen cleaner and the gravity table. In your case, the work was not well done. Thereby, you had an inconvenience, because in spite of the fungicide protecting the seeds, it doesn't have effect in seeds that are dead. The storage potential of rice seeds that are peeled and without protection, is less than a week.
Running a germination test in soybean seeds it was verified that about 50% of the seedlings had presented abnormalities. What can I do to ratify this result?
In fact, it is good to carry out a retest in this seed lot. Probable the germinator needs cleaning. The germination test using sand as substrata should solve your problem. In case there is urgency to know the result, because the best sowing season is passing, the tetrazolium test can be used, in which the result can be obtained in 24 hours.
I am working as technical responsible for the production of wheat seeds of a cooperative and, as such, I would like to know if I can increase the temperature of the drying air in order to accelerate the process. With the risk of the seeds germinating on the ear, I am harvesting with seed moisture content around 16-18% and passing them through a dryer to reduce the moisture to 13%.
Correct procedure. To leave the seeds in the field after maturation is to take unnecessary risk. The drying process is a technology that helps the seed producers to have material in amount and quality. Wheat seeds with 16-18% of moisture should be drought in such a way that the seeds that don't heat up more than 40ºC, and with 14-15% they already support temperature of 45ºC. It is important to mention that the temperature of the air can be well above the temperature of the seed, mainly with the intermittent type of dryers. To verify the temperature of the seeds it is recommended to remove a sample in the hottest place of the dryer and to put them in an isolated box for three minutes, before reading the temperature.
I liked the essay of Dr. James Delouche about seed quality and performance, because, nowadays, having the seed is not enough; we should also consider its quality and performance potential. In this sense, could you comment on some ways of increasing seed performance?
The seed osmoconditioning process is a good example to increase the performance, in that it increases the speed and germination uniformity, practice quite used in the market of vegetables seeds. Another example is to put micro nutrients on the seeds, providing yield increase - in Brazil more than 40% of soybean seeds are treated with micro nutrients. The coating process increases seed performance, and its success is evident.
I have been listening frequently about an orange certificate of seed analysis. What is it?
The seeds, to be commercialized, need to present a certain quality, for instance 80% germination, and they must be analyzed by a laboratory accredited with external quality control, that issues an certificate. When that laboratory is accredited to the International Seed Testing Association (Ista) and the sample of seeds was taken by its personnel, the laboratory issues the orange certificate that has international recognition for the seed market.
I am a farmer that has three metallic silos of 1000 tons each, where I store corn. I have difficulty in fumigating these silos while they are empty, due to their internal dimensions, about 15,0 m height for 11,0 m in diameter. Please help me
Regarding equipment, usually the atomizers get to reach all of the points in a silo of this size, which is not so big. The recommended procedure for fumigation and prophylaxes in metallic silos is that they should always be preceded by actions of cleaning and repairs in general, eliminating any dirt source or shelter substratum and generation of new phases of insects. After this, it is proceeded the treatment of all silo surfaces, not forgetting to treat elevators, plenum, conveyors, drying bins and, if possible, the vehicles that transport the seeds.
The suitable products to treat the surfaces of the silos are several and, following the salesperson's orientation and label of the chosen product, the mixture will be prepared and the procedure ready to go. It is very important to identify the insects for the appropriate choice of the product. (Question answered by Dr. Alberto Waltzer)
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