Fraunhofer Agriculture and Food Industry AllianceMultifunctional seed coating to safeguard and increase crop yields by protecting and nourishing the seedling
Against the backdrop of a growing world population and complex challenges such as climate change and the partial ban on herbicides, high-quality crop yields can only be ensured in the future by optimizing existing and/or developing completely new cultivation methods.
In order to establish high-yielding plant stands, the germinating seed must be supplied with sufficient water during the emergence phase and protected from site-competing weeds. Based on ecologically safe materials, the Fraunhofer PREPARE project SeedPlus aims to develop complex seed coatings that have inherent water and crop protection management, enabling effective field emergence even under difficult environmental conditions. This will be achieved by coating the seed with a functional layer for improved water management (water absorption, storage and delivery; support function) and a selective barrier to protect the seedling from the applied herbicides (protection function). At the same time, the existing regulatory gap in soil protection for such materials will be closed by developing a testing and evaluation strategy.