A New Laboratory brings innovative R&D for seed coating

“Seed coating is now days a common practice for most seed companies, giving the seeds a better protection against pests and diseases by binding active ingredients to the seeds,” says Jonathan Hyams, Centor Israel CEO. The coating material market is expected to grow to over 1,400 mill US$ by 2019 reflecting a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 7.5%. “With these figures we at Centor Group, have great challenges in front of us. Not only the quantity is growing, it is also the quality of the polymers giving the users wider and better application possibilities.” 

 

“Centor Group” invests a great part of its resources in developing new and innovative products and as part of this strategy, I am proud to announce we have opened a new laboratory facility in Carrum Downs, Australia, that will meet the rising demand for seed coatings by developing new materials especially with the imperative for dust control on treated seeds that will give us a safer working environment,” adds Jonathan. .

 

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 with other products on the seed, no dust, good flowability of coated seed, good germination, and release when required.

 

The Centor Group focuses on producing quality polymer seed coatings that deliver all the desirable benefits. To this end a new laboratory was built 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.

 

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 the company’s aim is not just to meet the required standard but to exceed the expectation.

 

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 that has one of the best dust-off profiles in the market today. And while the products are referred to 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. These biological control agents need a friendly compound to keep them vital on the seeds. 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 are continuing to develop this specialist area as it evolves, and part of the new laboratory is centred on microbiology and the enumeration of colonies.