Last week, Aquatrols presented exciting new findings on Surfactant Seed Coating technology at the Sports Turf Research Institute‘s annual research event in Bingley, England. Aquatrols was one of just seven companies invited to the 2013 event to present new technologies currently being developed to support the effective management of sports turf.
Presenting alongside representatives from Farmura, Aquatrols’ International Marketing Manager Tom Malehorn explained one of the exciting technologies Aquatrols is currently developing to improve seedling establishment and emergence in both water-repellent and wettable soils.
Malehorn presented findings recently published by Dr. Matt Madsen that show surfactant seed coating has the ability to “ameliorate a severely water repellent soil, increase rootzone water reserves, and improve tall fescue seedling emergence, cover, and biomass production.”
According to Madsen’s research, coating individual seeds with soil surfactants allows the seed to act as an effective carrier for the soil surfactant. After planting, precipitation or irrigation transfers the surfactant into the soil where it can overcome water repllency within the seed’s microsite.
More than 200 attendees made their way through the Aquatrols and Farmura Research station, many with excited questions about when and where this technology will become available. However, as Madesen concluded in his findings, additional research is needed to verify these results under field conditions and for other limitations beyond soil water repellency. We will keep you posted as more trials and results become available.
Click here for a .PDF version of the Surfactant Seed Coating section of the STRI Research 2013 program.
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