2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Among the different types of agricultural biologicals potentially used for seed treatment, microbial products have been the focus of development in the industry. Although conventional fungicides have been widely used in commercial vegetable seed treatment, adoption of agricultural biological application is still in its infancy in the vegetable seed industry when compared to the major field crop corn seed. One major limiting factor has been the lack of biological seed treatments designed for vegetable seeds. In addition, previously registered products were mainly based on a single microbial strain. Recently, developments have been made on multiple microbial consortium-based seed treatment products for vegetable seeds, offering promising marketing and research opportunities. We will discuss the market potential, application methods, and uniqueness of vegetable seed requirements. Furthermore, the requirements of new approaches and methodology for future development will also be proposed.