Content Handbook N

Outline of method

Treated seeds are poured through a funnel and fall on a slide (Note 1). When the slide is opened, the seeds fall a further distance onto a sieve, during which loose material separates. After five passes through the apparatus, a seed loading analysis is performed and the retention of the seed treatment on the stressed sample is compared with that of the unstressed sample.

Scope

Poor adhesion of seed treatment products to seeds can adversely affect biological efficacy. Therefore, this method is designed to determine how much of the seed treatment product remains on the seeds. The method is not designed to classify (e.g. as fine dust or coarse particles) or reliably quantify the part of the seed treatment product that is not retained on the seeds.