Seed Treatment – Fungicides/Insecticides
424
• 
Safety - page 25 • First aid - page 33 • Resistance management - page 41
triticonazole + thiram
......................................... 446
Tuberseal PSPT................................................... 449
Vibrance XL........................................................ 465
Vitaflo 280.......................................................... 467
Vitaflo SP Fungicide. .......................................... 467
Vitaflo Viterra..................................................... 467
Seed Treatment Selector Chart........................... 469
Seed Treatment of Cereal, Forage,
Oilseed and Pulse Crops
Purpose of seed treatment
Seed treatment provides economical insurance
against many diseases and some insect pests of seed
and seedlings. Chemical treatment can give seedlings
a head start by preventing or reducing damage
resulting from certain crop pests.
Diseases are controlled by contact fungicides that
destroy fungi carried on the seed, such as common
bunt of wheat, the surface-borne smuts of barley
and oats, fungus stripe of barley and some leaf-
spotting and seed decay fungi. Systemic fungicides
destroy fungi carried in the seed, such as loose smut
of wheat and barley, and they protect the early
growth of the seedling.
Specific recommendations:
•
Rye and flax should be treated because they are
very susceptible to seed decay.
•
Winter wheat should be treated to prevent bunt
and seed decay as well as to promote good
seedling growth.
•
If bunt or smut was observed in a crop that will
be used for seed, the grain should be treated. If a
variety is grown that is susceptible to bunt or smut
and the presence of the disease is uncertain, it may
be wise to treat the seed annually or every second
year, depending on the susceptibility of the variety.
•
Canola should always be treated to control the
seed-borne phase of blackleg.
•
Alfalfa seed is treated to control verticillium wilt.
Insecticidal seed treatment will prevent or reduce
damage caused by certain crop pests.
Methods of seed treatment
Custom treatment
Fungicides are applied to the seed sometime before
planting. Seed cleaning plants are equipped to treat
seed with liquid fungicides. Canola can only be treated
by custom applicators as there are no farmer-applied
seed fungicides available. Farmers can use
a variety of methods for both liquid and dry
formulation application.
Precautions
•
read and follow label directions carefully
•
treated seed must not be allowed to contaminate
grain intended for food, feed or commercial use
•
bury leftover treated seed or store it safely in
labelled bags for future use as seed
•
treated seed offered for sale must be labelled with
the name of the treated chemicals
(
Canada Seed Act
)
•
treated seed in transit must be bagged or bulk
loads tarped to prevent spillage (
Alberta Act
)