Dose effectiveness and quality of soybean seed treatment in Brazilian agriculture as a function of application technology

ABSTRACT: Seed treatment can be carried out in two modalities: On-Farm or via industrial treatment (IST). Evaluating the quality of the treatment is crucial, considering the percentage of coating by the phytosanitary product and the adequacy of the dose. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the use of high-resolution computerized image analysis to assess the coating of treated soybean seeds. In addition, it was sought to characterize the quality profiles of coating and dose adequacy in treated seeds in the Brazilian agribusiness. 150 samples of seed treated in both modalities were collected from various soybean producers in Brazil and evaluated for the percentage of coating by means of color quantification in high-resolution image analysis and for the percentage of the active insecticide ingredient by means of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Image analysis was effective in quantifying coating, regardless of the dominant color. Coating correlated directly with dose effectiveness in the IST modality. Seeds treated via IST tended to have higher quality and homogeneity of treatment compared to On-Farm treated seeds, showing adequate coating and dose effectiveness. On-Farm treated seeds showed heterogeneity in treatment quality, with significant variation in coating and dose effectiveness.