Loveland, Colorado, USA
December 12, 2012
Loveland Products announces a new active ingredient registration, resulting in the release of a new seed treatment named Consensus®.
"The EPA registration of Salicylic Acid for seed treatment use was our goal for a number of years," stated Marty Robinson, Seed Treatment Market Manager at Loveland Products. "The registration was recently approved, allowing us to move forward with this innovative product."
Consensus, a new seed treatment technology product is formulated with three important plant growth regulators (PGRs) including Salicylic Acid. It boasts a low use rate, seed safety, low environmental impact, and is a good companion seed treatment with other seed treatment products such as rhizobia inoculants.
"Technically, Consensus is formulated for the activation of oligosaccharides, vitamins and natural plant growth hormones, resulting in stronger, healthier and more uniform seedlings," according to Chris Stickler, Research and Development Director at Loveland. "It can activate gene expression for better utilization of seed-stored nutrients; promote rooting for better water and nutrient utilization; and trigger Systemic Acquired Resistance for greater plant vigor and survivability. We see more growth above and below the ground, and great yield responses from a number of crops including rice, soybeans, cereals and cotton."
The product is labeled for a wide range of field and other crops, and will be marketed through Crop Production Services retail locations.
More information is available, including a White Paper further detailing the active ingredients, physiology and modes of action of Consensus, at LovelandProducts.com
WHITE PAPER
Effect and Advantages of Consensus™ on Seed Germination
An ideal product for seed treatment should provide rapid and uniform emergence under a wide range of field and environmental conditions, resulting in strong and healthy seedlings. It should (1) promote improved development of roots and root hairs for faster seedling fixation and increased water and soil nutrient absorption, leading to a stronger and healthier plant with improved tolerance to stress conditions such as drought; (2) create stronger and more healthy seedlings with enhanced photosynthetic and lodging resistance properties; (3) provide efficient promotion of gene encoding for a variety of hydrolases to induce higher hydrolase activities, leading to better use of the nutrient storage in seeds for faster germination and seedling growth; and (4) increase resistance to pathogens for the growth of healthy crops with less disease, leading to optimized crop maturation and higher yields.
In addition to strong efficacy, an ideal seed treatment should have a low use rate, low mammalian and human toxicity, low environmental impact, seed safety, and be a compatible companion seed treatment with other agronomic products such as rhizobia.
Common products for seed treatments are primarily composed of fertilizers such as N, P and K and pesticides. Some other products use gibberellin A3. There are certain disadvantages associated with these products, as listed below:
- Standard macronutrient fertilizers (N, P, and K) may show limited effects on initial seed germination since most seeds have sufficient nutrient storage to support germination and early seedling growth. Fertilizing at high concentrations may result in delayed absorption of water, commonly referred to as fertilizer burn due to high salt content.
- Gibberellin A3 can promote faster seed germination and seedling growth. However, it can also promote stem elongation resulting in thin and tall seedlings with decreased resistance to adverse conditions and lodging. Gibberellin A3 is usually not beneficial to development of lateral root and root hairs.
Consensus, a new seed treatment technology product from Loveland Products, Inc. is formulated for the simultaneous or closely sequential activation of oligosaccharides, vitamins and natural plant growth hormones, resulting in stronger, healthier and more uniform seedlings.
The components of "Consensus" affect the seed and seedling in the following ways:
- Chitosan - Increased utilization of seed storage nutrients: The selected natural polysaccharides found in Chitosan can promote gene expression to produce highly active hydrolases, leading to better use of the nutrient storage in seeds for faster germination and seedling growth.
- Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) - Promotion of root system development: Auxins in "Consensus", in the form of IBA, can promote the development of lateral roots and root hairs, thus enhancing the absorption of water and soil nutrients for faster seedling growth and stronger resistance to stresses.
- Salicylic Acid (SA) - Increased resistance to microbial pathogens: SA’s mode of action is as a Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) inducer for seedlings – i.e., a trigger for invoking a seedling’s natural defenses against pathogens allowing for greater plant vigor and survivability. SA activates gene encoding for pathogenesis-related proteins leading to the accumulation of those proteins, which are toxic to multiple microorganisms. In addition, it can also increase the secondary metabolites such as phytoalexins, which are toxic to a variety of plant pathogens.
- Other - Increase of seed vigor for emergence of strong and healthy seedlings: Vitamin B and Vitamin C in "Consensus" can help to stabilize the enzyme structures for maintaining high seedling vigor. They also protect cell membranes especially the chloroplast membrane, resulting in enhanced photosynthesis. Thus, application of "Consensus" leads to faster emergence of strong, healthy, and uniform seedlings with the potential of earlier maturation and higher yields.
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