Short Note- A new device designed for treating, coating and coloring seeds

Seed treating, coating and coloring are some of the most important steps following seed cleaning in the overall seed processing. Coatings and colorants are used for superior binding of the fungicides and insecticides to the seed. This insures uniformity · of coverage, protection and safer handling of treated seed. Coating reduces dusting loss of active ingredient in the seed bag and in planting. Coating is also used for reducing leaching of treatment material away from the seed in the soil and increasing the size and weight of the seed. Colorants provide a distinctive color on the seed which allow easy monitoring of both planting depth and rate.
Seed treatments are applied in two different forms, liquid and powder, and the former has a number of advantages over the later method, but requires a much more sophisticated technique. The need for a suitable and reliable coating method led to tl1e development of a completely new fluidized bed type coater at Sugar Beet Seed Institute in 2001. This fluid bed coating device offers many advantages over traditional seed treating equipment. With a very accurate dosing system, this newly developed device is highly capable of creating a uniform layer of coating and is very flexible to be used for different types of seeds. It uses a controlled warm stream of air to suspend the seeds and to dry each application slowly and thoroughly. It's low monitoring and maintenance requirements and reduced airborne dust particles make the working environment much more acceptable and just one operator can handle the whole process.