Bayer CropScience Seed Treatments

Bayer CropScience currently offers two on-seed treatments, AERIS and TRILEX ADVANCED. The products can be used as stand alones or they can be combined,
Aeris is a seed-applied insecticide and nematicide. It is both a thiadicarb and a imidacloprid. The thiadicarb gives the product action against nematodes, particularly root-knot and reniform. Thiadicarb also provides good action against black cutworms in cotton. Imidacloprid provides action against sucking pests, including thrips and aphids.
Trilex Advanced provides protection against seed and soil-borne diseases. It contains trifloxystrobin, Baytan and metalaxyl. It has proven to be especially effective against fusarium and rhizoctonia.
“The minute the seed hits the soil, it’s in a hostile environment. It begins to come under attack from all the different diseases and insects,” says Hewitt. “For that plant to hit its genetic potential, it needs maximum protection. So you get your plant off to a good start when you’ve got a good seed treatment, like Aeris and Trilex Advanced are.”
In December, Bayer unveiled its latest on-seed treatment, VOTiVO. This newest product will be available for commercial use in 2011.
VOTiVO works differently than most nematicides in that it is a biological treatment. The product is a living bacteria that, once enacted, provides a barrier around the root zone, effectively blocking nematodes from coming into contact with young seedling roots while allowing other beneficial nutrients to reach it.
“It’s different. It’s not conventional chemistry. Again, it’s a bacteria, and when we put that on the seed with some of our other flagship products like Aeris, you know, we’ve seen this year on average about an 86 pound increase in cotton production per acre,” says Hewitt.

BASF Seed Treatment

CORONET fungicide seed treatment from BASF contains two active ingredients – boscalid and pyraclostrobin.
It provides protection against seed borne fungi causing seed decay, seedling damping off and the soil borne pathogens rhizoctonia solani, penicillium and fusarium.
Coronet is an on-seed treatment applied at commercial seed treatment facilities, so it provides enhanced disease control and grower convenience.
BASF says Coronet helps control key seed and seedling diseases from the start, while improving plant stress tolerance. A healthy start leads to improved plant vigor and increased yield potential.
Coronet applications to seed can be followed by foliar use of Headline fungicide.

Syngenta Seed Treatments

Syngenta offers three options for complete on-seed treatment protection. The company’s on-seed treatment portfolio offers options that cover nematode, insect and disease protection.
CRUISER is a seed-applied insecticide that has proven significantly effective against common chewing and sucking insects such as cotton aphids, western flower thrips and the tobacco thrip while providing suppression against cotton fleahoppers and plant bugs.
DYNASTY CST is Syngenta’s answer to soil-borne diseases. Comprised of three fungicides – Maxim, Apron XL and Dynasty – Dynasty CST provides contact and systemic protection against cotton’s most pressing seedling diseases, such as fusarium, pythium, rhizoctonia and phytophthora. Dynasty’s fungicide chemistry gives it systemic activity.
“This is important because it makes Dynasty CST very effective against post-emergent rhizoctonia,” says Stone, noting the disease’s prominence in certain growing seasons.
Syngenta also offers AVICTA COMPLETE COTTON nematicide/fungicide/insecticide treatment, a promotional combination of two separately registered products, Dynasty CST and Avicta Duo. Avicta Duo combines the active ingredients of Cruiser insecticide with Avicta, the company’s flagship nematicide. The combination offers comprehensive coverage from an on-seed treatment.
“This combination was offered to give growers what we think is the most effective and convenient nematicide, insecticide and disease protection on their cotton crop,” says Stone.
Syngenta as a company has also made a strong investment in quality control through making sure the right amount of the company’s active ingredients is on each seed after treatment. Syngenta’s seed treating equipment was specifically designed and built for the cotton market, with Syngenta on-seed treatments in mind.
“We’ve put a lot of resources and effort into making sure that when seeds come out of these seed plants, that they are of the utmost quality. That’s something we’re pretty proud of,” says Stone.