Biological seed coating agent successfully pioneered in Zhejiang

Recently, a biological seed coating agent that can both improve seeds' resistance to pests and diseases, greatly increase crop yields, and cause no toxicity or pollution to humans, livestock, or the environment was successfully pioneered in Zhejiang and has been promoted over a large area.

“Seed coating” is a modern agricultural technology widely promoted in China in recent years. It refers to wrapping the fertilizers and pesticides needed for seed development around the seed surface and curing them into a film before the seed germinates, as if giving the seed a coat. Because previous seed coating agents generally had relatively strong toxicity, improper use would, on the one hand, reduce the seed germination rate, and on the other hand, toxic residues in the seeds would pose a potential threat to human and livestock life and to the environment. In recent years, large cities such as Shanghai have made regulations prohibiting the use of highly toxic seed coating agents on rapeseed, melon and fruit, and vegetable seeds, in order to ensure the safety of the “vegetable basket.”

The biological seed coating agent was developed through 14 years of effort by staff from Zhejiang Province's seed research and business departments. This new type of seed coating agent uses bioactive bacteria as its active ingredient, causes no phytotoxicity to crops, no toxicity to humans and livestock, and no public hazard to the environment, and can be widely used for seed coating of many crops such as rice, corn, rapeseed, barley and wheat, watermelon, cotton, leafy vegetables, and legumes. Experts unanimously agree that the biological seed coating agent is a domestic first and reaches a world-leading level. This technology has now obtained a national patent.