Australia
November 17, 2015
Centor Oceania has recently opened the doors of its new laboratory facility dedicated to formulating new seed coating polymers for the global market. The expectations for seed coatings have really increased in the last few years, especially with the imperative for dust control on treated seed escalating in terms of effectiveness.
The seed treatment market, even though it is fully mature in some areas, is still predicted to be a growth area within agriculture for many years to come. The use of polymers, binders, colourants and other additives are all set to increase globally.
Increasingly the addition of inputs on to the seed to promote growth and protect plants is seen as a continuing way forward as the importance of each seed sown escalates due to the larger outlay on quality treated seed and the progression in yield expectations.
It seems like something so simple but the development of a good seed coating polymer is no happy accident. A lot is expected from this seemingly basic product; consider just some of the common requests:
- Bright strong colour
- Even coverage
- Compatibility
- No dust
- Good flowability of coated seed
- Good germination
- Release when required
This is something that the Centor Group takes very seriously, their focus is on producing quality polymer seed coatings that deliver all the desirable benefits. To this end a new laboratory was built in early 2015 dedicated for this purpose, within the lab are germination testing facilities, formulation equipment and top-end analytical apparatus. From here the next generation of seed coating polymers are being developed, and will continue to be released to market as the needs of the seed treatment market continually evolve.
Centor Oceania leads the polymer development for the worldwide group, the head of R&D; Simon Watt has the challenge of co-ordinating for a wide-ranging list of demands, with the support of Dr Saied Sedghi who works on formulations and Dr Wasantha Madurapperuma who concentrates on germination testing and plant growth.
All new polymers under development go through rigorous testing and quality checks to ensure that they meet strict standards. Especially in the case of dust our aim is not just to meet the required standard but to exceed the expectation.
We continue to look at germination of coated seeds as part of the process and we go beyond that by additionally using precision analytical equipment to measure other aspects of our products. We are now able to assess the coverage and distribution of the polymer over the seeds with unprecedented accuracy.
There are two ranges of seed polymer coatings available from the Centor Group, the premium high end products have the Seedworx branding, and to assist those facing the economic pressures in agriculture there is the Ezicote brand, which has similar functionality, but without the dramatic visual impact of most Seedworx polymers.
One of the most recent additions to the range is Seedworx Flare 3 which is a polymer directed toward the corn market, it has one of the best dust-off profiles in the market today. While we refer to our products as polymers, they are much more than this; they are special formulations of binders, surfactants, rheology modifiers, and other additives which have been combined for the specific use in coating of seeds.
The use of biological products as part of the portfolio for seed treatment application is a part of the market that continues to steadily grow. This happens to be a particular strength in Centor Oceania’s Seedworx polymer collection. Specifically Seedworx Bio-Friendly 1 which has properties that allow it to be used very successfully with beneficial biologicals that can be applied to seed, it has been used successfully for many years with rhizobia, a legume inoculant, but also shows promise with PSB (phosphate solubilising bacteria) and other biological products.
The research team at Centor Oceania are continuing to develop this specialist area as it evolves; indeed part of the new laboratory is centred on microbiology and the enumeration of colonies.
As part of the wider Centor Group, Centor Oceania is able to look at the global issues in seed treatments and work locally with interested partners. Centor seed coating specialists are here to support all those involved in the seed treatment industry.
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