WO1997024918A1

WO1997024918A1 - A product for use in agriculture or horticulture

Info

Publication number: WO1997024918A1
Application number: PCT/US1997/000101
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter A. C. Chown
Original assignee: Monsanto Company
Priority date: 1996-01-05
Filing date: 1997-01-06
Publication date: 1997-07-17
Also published as: AU1691397A

Abstract

A product (2) for use in at least one of agriculture and horticulture, which product comprises at least one of a seed (28) and development-enhancing material (37) for enhancing at least one of germination of the seed (28) and growth of the seed (28), and an envelope (30) which contains the said at least one of the seed (28) and the development-enhancing material (37), the envelope (30) being made of a water-soluble pliable material which permits handling and sowing of the product (2) without disintegration of the envelope (30) and which is dissolvable at a predetermined time after sowing for enhancing at least one of the germination and the growth of the seed (28).

Description

A PRODUCT FOR USE IN AGRICULTURE OR HORTICULTURE

This invention relates to a product for use in agriculture or horticulture and, more especially, this invention relates to a product for use in agriculture or horticulture and which comprises a seed and/or development-enhancing material for enhancing germination and/or growth of the seed.

Traditionally, seeds have been sown direct into a growing medium such for example as soil or compost. The seeds are often small and the sowing of the seeds direct into the soil is often wasteful of seeds with too many seeds being sown in a given area. Apart from the initial wastage of the sown seeds, pricking out of young plants may later on be required which is further wasteful of time and energy. In order to overcome the problem of sowing too many seeds in a given area, it has in recent years been known to form the seeds as pellets. Each pellet usually contains a single seed but it may contain more than one seed if desired. The pelletized seeds are able to be sown more easily individually which helps to avoid the initial seed wastage, and the subsequent pricking out. However, whilst the pelletized seeds approach solves the problem of initial seed wastage and pricking out, the pelletizing of the seed raises its own problems in that the pelletizing can be costly. Also, the pellet is usually formed by a clay coating around the seed and pesticides and insecticides are often inserted into this coating. This may then be detrimental to persons handling the pelletized seed. Still further, the clay coating has a tendency to break and crumble, which can lead to poor sowing results when sowing with automatic machinery since bits of clay coating on their own often get sown in mistake for a pelletized seed.

It is an aim of the present invention to obviate or reduce the above mentioned problems. Accordingly, the present invention provides a product for use in at least one of agriculture and horticulture, which product comprises at least one of a seed and development-enhancing material for enhancing at least one of germination of the seed and growth of the seed, and an envelope which contains the said at least one of seed and the development-enhancing material, the envelope being made of a water-soluble pliable material which permits handling and sowing of the product without disintegration of the envelope and which is dissolvable at a predetermined time after sowing for enhancing at least one of the germination and the growth of the seed

The water-soluble pliable material enables the product easily to be handled without the product possibly crumbling and exposing chemicals which may be harmful to human and/or animal life, such for example as synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides. The time that the water-soluble pliable material takes to dissolve can be precisely controlled by the type and/or the thickness of the water-soluble pliable material employed, and/or the use of appropriate release agents for controlling the rate of dissolving of the water-soluble pliable material Preferably, the envelope is in the form of a capsule. The product will then be an encapsulated product If desired however the envelope may be in the form of a sachet or a pouch Generally, the envelope may be of any suitable shape and size

The water-soluble pliable material is preferably a water-soluble gelatine The gelatine is stable under normal conditions so that the product has a good shelf life The gelatine is also relatively inexpensive and it is biodegradable

The water-soluble gelatine may include a plasticizer if desired for making the gelatine more soft and pliable

Generally, the water-soluble pliable material may be any suitable and appropriate material, including synthetic or natural materials Thus, for example, the water-soluble pliable material may be a polymeric material, for example polyvinyl alcohol

The seed may be any suitable and appropriate seed Thus, for example, the seed may be a flower seed such for example as a pansy seed, a marigold seed or a begonia seed The seed may be grass seed The seed may be a vegetable seed such for example as a carrot seed, a cabbage seed, a parsnip seed or a seed potato The seed may also be a seed for forming a shrub or a tree of desired A presently preferred vegetable seed is a sugar beet seed.

The development-enhancing material may be any suitable single chemical or mixture of chemicals Thus, for example, the development-enhancing material may be at least one of a fertilizer, a trace element, a pesticide and an insecticide These chemicals may be employed in any suitable and appropriate combination, and in any suitable and appropriate concentrations Any of the known fertilizers, trace elements, pesticides and insecticides may be used. Examples of known fertilizers are powdered chalk and potash An example of a trace element is a magnesium trace element.

The development-enhancing material may have magnetic properties. Thus, for example, the development-enhancing material may comprise or consist of iron or a compound of iron, thereby to provide a development-enhancing material which also has magnetic properties in addition to the development-enhancing properties.

The development-enhancing material may completely cover the seed. The development-enhancing material may be sprayed on to the seed or the seed may be dipped into the development-enhancing material. During the spraying or dipping, the development-enhancing material may be hot. The development-enhancing material may contain at least one of a fertilizer, a pesticide, a fungicide and a fertilizer. When the development-enhancing material hardens, it forms an envelope which remains around the seed until planting. Environmentally friendly development-enhancing materials can be employed. The product of the invention is easy to use and is thus user friendly. If desired, the development-enhancing material may be built up around the seed in layers. The same or different layers may be employed. Thus, layers of various types of growing mediums may be built up around the seed in order to get a slow release of the elements incoφorated in the development-enhancing material.

The use of the water-soluble pliable material may be effective to prevent the product being eaten prior to germination of the seed, for example by mice or slugs. If desired, the water-soluble pliable material can be provided with a substance which deters animals from eating the product prior to germination of the seed. The substance can be impregnated into or watered on the water-soluble pliable material.

The envelope may contain at least one chemical for disease control. The diseases that are controlled may be any of the known diseases encountered by seeds and/or the plants that grow from the seeds. Thus, for example, the envelope may contain one or more chemicals for controlling diseases in vegetable crops. The vegetable crops may be, for example, sugarbeet and potatoes.

If desired, the product can be sown such that water is able to be injected into the product by a seed drill just prior to sowing, the injection being such as to give enough water in the product to germinate the seed. The product can be arranged such that the development-enhancing material is released after germination so that development-enhancing material is not wasted by being leached into the soil by moisture such as rain or dew prior to germination of the seed. If desired, the seed only may be in the envelope or, alternatively, only the development-enhancing material may be in the envelope. If desired, one product containing only a seed in an envelope may be sown alongside another product containing only the development-enhancing material in the envelope. If desired, the product can contain two envelopes or a single envelope containing two compartments, one envelope or compartment containing the seed and the other envelope or compartment containing the development-enhancing material. Where different types of development-enhancing material are employed, they can be mixed together or they can be employed separately and, where they are employed separately, then each separate development-enhancing material may be in a separate envelope or in a separate compartment in a single envelope. Different types of development-enhancing material can be arranged to be released in a timed sequence.

The use of the envelope may enable seeds to be planted by hand, for example in third world countries where automatic sowing machinery is not available. The use of the envelope helps to protect the seeds from the environment, for example excessively damp conditions, during the initial germination period of the seed. Still further, the use of the envelope helps to protect possibly noxious development-enhancing materials from coming into direct contact with a user, for example by hand or by being inhaled.

If desired, two or more seeds may be provided in one single envelope, for example where seeds are known to have a poor germination rate.

When the product contains both the seed and the development-enhancing material, then the seed and the development-enhancing material may be in contact with each other or may be kept separate from each other as may be desired.

Where the product contains the seed, it is envisaged that heat may tend to build up in the envelope by virtue of soil temperature, thereby helping to germinate the seed more quickly than would otherwise be the case. The faster the seed germinates, the less time there is for the seed to become infected or eaten. Immediately prior to sowing, the capsule may be injected with water as indicated above, again to facilitate speedy germination of the seed. The use of the envelope may enable planting of the product to be carried out earlier than would otherwise be possible with an unprotected seed because the seed will be protected by the envelope from the effects of frost and cold weather until germination has taken place. The use of the water-soluble pliable material may give cost reductions of up to

50% as compared with traditional pelleting methods since there are no high energy costs. With large seeds, traditional pelletizing has often resulted in the seed coating cracking due to the encapsulated seed being produced to be too large. In this case, the coating may often fall into seed-dispensing apertures in automatic sowing machinery, resulting in seeds not being sown and thus blank spaces in sown rows of seeds. With the product of the present invention, the envelope can be produced to a standard size, so that the product can be of a standard size which is advantageous when the product is to be sown automatically using automatic sowing machinery. Because the envelope is made of a pliable material, the breaking off of parts of the envelope is prevented so the blocking of seed drills or the sowing of bits of coating without a seed is avoided.

Often at least 20% of seeds are wasted because they are oversized and they are too big for pelletizing. This is especially prevalent with sugar beet seeds, in spite of the fact that farmers and gardeners would prefer to sow the bigger seeds because the bigger seeds when planted usually grow more vigorously. The product of the present invention saves on this 20% wastage because all the envelopes can be produced to a standard size suitable for automatic sowing machinery.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a first product of the invention being automatically sown by automatic sowing apparatus;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the product shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a second type of product in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 shows a third type of product in accordance with the invention; Figure 5 shows a product of the invention sown direct into a tuber; and Figure 6 shows how the product operates in the tuber. Referring to Figure 1, there is shown a plurality of separate products in the form of encapsulated seeds 2. The encapsulated seeds 2 are initially placed in a hopper 4 of automatic sowing machinery 6. The automatic sowing machinery 6 has a rotating drum 8 which has recessed 10 in its periphery. Encapsulated seeds 2 from the hopper 4 fall into the recesses 10 and they then pass to a water injection station 12. The water injection station 12 comprises a water container 14 having an outlet pipe 16 and a pump 18. The pump 18 pumps water to a water injection wheel 20 having water injection nozzles 22 disposed around the periphery of the water injection wheel 20. The water injection nozzles 22 are appropriately arranged such that as the water injection wheel 20 rotates, the water injection nozzles 22 pierce the encapsulated seed 2. The encapsulated seeds 2 then pass along an outlet pipe 24 as shown so that the encapsulated seeds 2 can be sown into soil 26, also as shown.

As can be seen from Figures 1 and 2, each encapsulated seed 2 comprises a seed 28 which is contained in an envelope in the form of a capsule 30. The capsule 30 is in two parts 32, 34 which have been pushed together as shown. The water which is injected into the capsule 30 helps the seed 28 to germinate.

The capsule 30 is made of a water soluble gelatine material. The capsule 30 is thus a pliable capsule 30 which will not break off in bits and pieces and which is able to flex to absorb shocks, for example as experienced during manufacture and/or as may be experienced in the hopper 4.

Figure 3 shows a second encapsulated seed 2. In Figure 3, the capsule 30 contains an inner capsule 36. The inner capsule 36 contains a development-enhancing material 37. The development-enhancing material 37 may be a single chemical or a combination of chemicals so that the development-enhancing material 37 may be one or more or a fertilizer, a trace element, a pesticide and an insecticide.

Figure 4 shows a third capsule 30 containing just the development-enhancing material 37. The development enhancing material 37 may be the same as that described above for use in the inner capsule 36, shown in Figure 3.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, a product 38 in the form of a capsule containing development-enhancing material 37 may be inserted into a seed tuber 40. The development-enhancing material 37 may contain any suitable and appropriate combination of trace elements, vitamins, minerals, insecticides and pesticides. The development- enhancing material can pass from the seed tuber 40 to crops 42 as shown in Figure 6. If the seed tuber 40 is a potato, then the crops 42 will be potatoes. The seed tuber 40 shown in Figure 5 may be another type of seed tuber such for example as a dahlia seed tuber in the case of flowers.

The product of the invention is advantageous in that less fertilizer may need to be used than with normal methods using fertilizer. The product enables appropriate development-enhancing material to be placed directly to the crop, giving a healthier product. For organic products, the development-enhancing material can be one or more organic growing materials. The product of the invention ensures that fertilizers are not wasted into the soil, which helps avoid possible ecological damage done by fertilizers to that the product of the invention is environmentally friendly. The product of the invention may also lead to the growing of cheaper crops because the land does not have to be worked so much and there is less compaction of land by heavy tractors and associated equipment.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, although the product 2 shown in the drawings has been shown in the form of a capsule, the capsule could be of another shape or the capsule could be replaced by a sachet or an envelope of any other suitable and appropriate shape. Also, the gelatine can be replaced by another water-soluble pliable material.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A product for use in at least one of agricultural and horticulture, which product comprises at least one of a seed and development-enhancing material for enhancing at least one of germination of the seed and growth of the seed, and an envelope which contains the said at least one of the seed and the development-enhancing material, the envelope being made of a water-soluble pliable material which permits handling and sowing of the product without disintegration of the envelope and which is dissolvable at a predetermined time after sowing for enhancing at least one of the germination and the growth of the seed.

2. A product according to claim 1 in which the envelope is in the form of a capsule.

3. A product according to claim 1 in which the water-soluble pliable material is a water-soluble gelatine.

4. A product according to claim 3 in which the water-soluble gelatine includes a plasticizer.

5. A product according to claim 1 in which the development-enhancing material is at least one of a fertilizer, a trace element, a pesticide and an insecticide.

6. A product according to claim 1 in which the development-enhancing material has magnetic properties.

7. A product according to claim 1 in which the development-enhancing material completely covers the seed.

8. A product according to claim 7 in which the development-enhancing material is built up around the seed in layers.

9. A product according to claim 1 in which the water-soluble pliable material is provided with a substance which deters animals from eating the product prior to germination of the seed.

10. A product according to claim 1 in which the envelope contains at least one chemical for disease control.

11. A product according to claim 1 and which is such that water is able to be injected into the product by a seed drill just prior to sowing, the injection being such as to give enough water in the product to germinate the seed.

12. A product according to claim 1 and which is such that the development- enhancing material is released after germination so that development-enhancing material is not wasted by being leached into the soil by moisture prior to germination of the seed.