The unified term'binding agent'shall be used herein for the characterization of the method suggested. Within the context hereof, this term shall stand for any material that is inert to seeds and is capable of binding mineral and nutritive components in liquid or solid state on the surface of seeds and bind them with one another. The binding agent may cover the surface of seeds as a continuous film or cover portions of their surface; in any case the binding agent should bind said solid components and solutions of the components securely to the surface of seeds.

Known is seed preplant encapsulation method (Fr, Patent Application 2459587, 1980) wherein before planting a seed is placed into a capsule made from polymer materials with the objective of protecting the planted seeds from insects and diseases.

Disadvantage of said method is that, at an early stage of its growth, the seed is isolated from nutritive components available in the soil whereas the capsule itself does not contain any facilities to promote seed growth.

Known also is sunflower seed preplant treatment method (RU, Patent 2196409,2003) wherein the seeds are treated with an aqueous solution of the ternary copolymer of acrylic acid, acrylamide and triacryloylhexahydro-1, 3, 5-triazine.

Said solution provides a good protection of planted seeds from severe ambient conditions but does not contain any nutritive and mineral components to promote the growth and development of seeds.

Known is popcorn seed preplant treatment method (US, Patent 4173462,1979) wherein the surface of popcorn seeds is coated with a film forming component in which a germination stimulator (1-phenyl- 6-aminophenylquinoine-2-n-dimethylaminosterylchloride) is dispersed.

Disadvantage of said method is the absence, in the area that surrounds the seed, of nutritive components containing mineral and organic substances necessary for seed growth and development, and that the seed is isolated from nutritive components available in the soil.

Known also is seed preplant treatment method (US, Patent 3897241,1975) with ethanolamine and phosphoric acid interaction products.

Disadvantage of said method is the detrimental influence of ethanolamine on seeds and the absence, in the area that surrounds the seed, of biologically active substances and microelements to promote advanced. seed growth.

Known is seed preplant treatment method (SU, Inventor's Certificate 1484310, 1989) wherein a seed is coated with sludge of thermophilic methane fermentation of manure.

Disadvantage of said method is the absence of a binding agent, hence the sludge is not bound to seed surface, and the absence of macro-and microelements in the sludge to favor the development of a plant germ.

Known also is seed preplant treatment method (SU, Inventor's Certificate 1400528,1988) wherein the surface of seed is coated with a composition containing powdered claydite, black earth, superphosphate and microelements, the binding agent being clay.

Known also is rape seed preplant treatment method (RU, Patent 2163062, 2001) wherein rape seed before planting is coated with a mixture of powdered claydite, zeolite and clay, wherein, due to the water soluble form in which calcium, sodium and potassium ions are contained in zeolite favors their rapid absorption by the roots of the plant.

Disadvantage of both methods is the poor suitability of clay as a binding agent and the absence, in the coating composition, of basic organic substance and, in particular, humus containing nutritive sources and all the other necessary micro and macroelements except calcium, sodium and potassium as are noted above.

Known also is seed preplant treatment method (SU, Inventor's Certificate 400300,1972) wherein the surface of seed is coated with a film forming composition that contains a water soluble polymer mixed with fertilizers and insectofungicide.

Disadvantage of said method is the low strength of the coating that forms on seed surface.

Known also is seed preplant treatment method (RU, Patent 2142215,1999) wherein the surface of seed is coated with two layers each of which contains carboxymethylcellulose as a film forming agent and fungicide, growth stimulators and water.

Disadvantage of said method is the complex implementation process, absence of humus containing and mineral seed nutritive sources and the insufficient strength of the coating.

The closest counterpart of the present method is seed preplant treatment method (RU, Patent 2204229,2003) wherein the surface of seed is sequentially coated with two layers the first of which contains carboxymethylcellulose, fungicide, molybdenum and phosphorus and the second one made from irlite, a rock clay available in the Northern Caucasus that contains compounds of molybdenum, calcium, magnesium, manganese, vanadium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, zinc and other elements.

Disadvantage of said method is the absence, in the vicinity of seed surface, of biologically active components to promote rapid growth of seed and the absence of organic, including humus containing, components in the coating to provide for high harvest.

Moreover, the irlite layer hinders and delays seed germination.

Therefore the object of this invention is to provide a preplant seed treatment method that ensures higher seed germination and stability to severe ambient conditions, combined with accelerated growth and the eventual increase in harvest, thereby increasing the efficiency of agriculture harvests while reducing the consumption of organic and mineral fertilizers per unit product due to their local coating onto the surface of each seed.

Said object can be achieved using the seed preplant treatment method that comprises coating the seed with a composite material that contains a binding agent and encapsulates each seed, at least partially, and binds the ingredients of said composite material to the seed surface, wherein said ingredients are biologically active components, organic and inorganic plant nutritive components and polymer microcapsules of water sorbents 0.2 to 2 mm in size in an amount of 0.5 to 5% mass. of composite material coated onto the seed surface.

Said biologically active components are mezoinozite and salts of gibberellinic and clorophenyloxyacetic acids in an amount of 0.01 to 0.1% mass. of composite material coated onto the seed surface, said inorganic matericals are biogenic microelements in an amount of 0.2 to 2% mass. of composite material coated onto the seed surface, and said organic matericals are ready compost, peat and biohumus. Said binding agent is usually any film forming agent or sticking agents that do not inhibit the growth of plants, and swell or dissolve in water, e. g. lignosulphonates, carboxymethylcellulose, starch, substituted starch, amide copolymers, polyvinyl alcohols, post-alcoholic distillery dregs, aluminum silicates (clays) etc.. Said binding agents should not hinder the germination and, on the other hand, should, at least during the whole germination process, bind the substances necessary for germ development to the seed. Meanwhile, the binding agent should provide for a sufficient mechanical strength of the granules to withstand. the stresses and loads during their mechanical transportation and seeding. The process of granule destruction upon the seed ending up in soil should be sufficiently long so the nutritive components provided for seed growth to the maximum possible extent and could not diffuse into the soil farther from the seed.

Water sorbent polymer capsules are made, predominantly, on the basis of acrylic acid (usually, copolymers of acrylamide and acrylic acid) and are used to trap the water supplied from the soil and bind it in the vicinity of the grain, possibly, with growth promoting components dissolved therein. Said microcapsules can be alternatively made from other polymer materials, for example, from gelatin which is a biological polymer. The presence of biologically active components in the direct vicinity of seed surface ensures its stability to severe ambient conditions, fro example, temperature and acidity fluctuations, and provides for accelerated seed germination. The ratios of the biologically active components, i. e. mezoinozite and salts of gibberellinic and clorophenyloxyacetic acids, depends on the kind of seeds, but all the three components should be necessarily present in the total concentration as specified hereinabove. The organic components, i. e. ready compost, peat and biohumus, and, possibly, sapropel or fire-fang manure should be purified from mechanical impurities and powdered before being coated onto seed surface. Their content in the composite material depends on the conditions of soil whereto the seed is to be planted. Usually this content is 30 to 95% mass. of the composite material coated onto the seed surface. The amount of binding agent depends on its type and coating method and is usually from 1 to 15% mass. of the composite material coated onto the seed surface.

If the method is implemented with the use of a water compatible binding agent, then the biologically active components and the biogenic elements should be preferably dissolved in water before coating onto the surface of seed. This will allow, during the preplant treatment, to apply said materials to the seed surface homogeneously and, on the other hand, facilitate their binding to the seed surface due to adsorption of the solution by the binding agent. Dissolution or swelling, in the soil moisture, of the binding agent that contains said materials on the seed surface will provide for their gradual release and hence the almost complete digesting by the developing plant. Usually, said biogenic microelements are mineral salts that contain cations and anions of cobalt, boron, molybdenum, manganese, zinc, potassium, iron and ammonium. The effect of said cations on plant development is well known. However, depending on the properties of the soil into which the seed is planted said optimum mineral salt composition may vary and hence can be chosen specifically.

The order of layer coating onto seed surface may vary, too.

According to one of the possible embodiments of this invention the biologically active components are coated onto seed surface first, along with the binding agent, to cover, at least partially, the seed surface, and then the organic and inorganic plant nutritive components, the water sorbent polymer microcapsules and the binding agent are additionally coated onto the seed surface. However, according to another embodiment, the binding agent, the biologically active components, the organic and inorganic plant nutritive components and the water sorbent polymer microcapsules are coated onto seed surface simultaneously. Also possible is embodiment wherein the binding agent, the biologically active components, the organic and inorganic plant nutritive components and the water sorbent polymer microcapsules are preliminarily mixed and thereafter coated onto seed surface using any known method. The choice of a specific embodiment depends on the kind, size and shape of the seed to be treated, coating composition, required coating thickness and the equipment chosen for coating of the composite material.

Composite material coating onto seed surface can be implemented by sputtering in air-fluidized bed devices, by rinsing in drum devices, by encapsulation in disc devices, by granulation in extruders etc.. However, the above methods do not limit the list of the equipment and technologies that can be used in specific embodiments of the method presented herein; also, other combinations of the above listed methods and equipment can be used. The method can be implemented using other suitable equipment in user's possession.

With any embodiment used, the thickness of the composite material coated onto seed surface is preferably from 0.1 to 10 of equivalent seed diameter. However, depending on method coating conditions, coating thickness may be outside the range as specified above. After coating the composite material can be dried, depending on its moisture saturation. Drying should be preferably implemented using the same equipment in which the coating was coated, by blowing the seed with high temperature air ; however, the heating conditions should not impair seed germination thereafter. Possibly, seed drying after composite material coating can be made on a separate device, wherein the final moisture content in the ready product is usually 5-15% mass.. To strengthen the resultant coating on seed surface, the composite material after coating onto seed surface can be additionally coated with a binding agent film, wherein the material of said additionally coated film may differ from the initial binding agent.

The method claimed herein is suitable for the treatment of seed of agricultural harvests, cereals, fruits, vegetables, herbs and decorative plants.

The method is efficient for the treatment of seed of various agricultural harvests, for example, seed of beets, cucumbers, pumpkins, salad, radish, carrots, sunflower, popcorn, barley, wheat etc., as well as many herbs, for example, calendula, lavender, Echinacea purpurea etc..

The efficiency of the agricultural harvest seed preplant treatment method is manifested by an increase in harvest and a reduction in the consumption of organic and mineral fertilizers per unit product and, in case of herbs, by an improvement in seed germination, accelerated plant growth, improved quality of harvests, resistance to weed and lower labor consumption for growth.

Below the invention will be considered in detail and exemplified with its specific embodiments.

Example 1. Breed radish seed with an average equivalent diameter of 1.5 mm were treated in an air-fluidized bed device at 30°C. For composite material coating onto seed surface a 1% mass. water solution of biologically active components was preliminarily prepared on the basis of mezoinozite, sodium salts of gibberellic acids and N-tris (hydroxyathyl) ammonium salt of ortochlorphenyloxyacetic acid in a 1: 10: 100 ratio, a 5% mass. water solution of biogenic microelements was prepared using the following components: sodium molybdenite, sodium boride, potassium chloride and disubstituted ammonium phosphate in a 1: 2: 6: 12 ratio, and a 10% mass. water solution of binding agent on the basis of polyvinyl alcohol was prepared. The organic component was compost based on cattle manure preliminarily dried to 25% mass. residual moisture content.

The polymer water sorbent were 1.5 mm polyacrylic gel microcapsules which were homogeneously mixed with the dried manure to make 3% mass. of the compost weight. First, the solutions of the binding agent, the biogenic microelements and the biologically active components were fed to the device. The solutions were simultaneously sprayed through throttles to ensure homogenous coating of the seed. After a film formed on the seed surface the binding agent was sprayed in the device, and the mixture of the organic component with the polymer water sorbent was dosed. The mixture was sprayed in stable air fluidization mode for 30 minutes while gradually increasing the air-fluidized bed temperature to 45°C and drying the granules to a 10% mass. residual moisture content.

Ready granules had an average coating thickness of 7 mm and the composite material coating composition as follows: 0.05 % mass. biologically active components, 0.2 % mass. biogenic microelements, 3 % mass. polymer water sorbent granules, 7 % mass. binding agent, 10.0 % mass. water, balance organic component. Following this the granules were discharged from the device.

The treated seed with the coated composite material coating were tested by planting in a 10 m2 test plot preliminarily fertilized with 2 kg compost based on cattle manure (to make a 2 t/ha ratio).

250 treated seeds were planted on the test plot. Similar radish seed without treatment were planted in another 10 m2 test plot to be used as a reference. The reference plot soil was fertilized with 5 kg similar compost based on cattle manure (to make a 5 t/ha ratio). Radish was grown following standard agricultural practice. The root harvest for the test plot with preliminarily treated seeds was 6.5 kg at 92% germination whereas for the reference plot these parameters were 4.75 kg at 76% germination. The total compost consumption for the test plot with account of seed treatment was 3.8 kg, and for the reference plot the compost consumption was 5 kg. Thus, the effective radish harvest growth was 36.8% with a 31.5% compost saving.

Example 2. Sugar popcorn seeds with an average equivalent diameter of 6 mm were loaded into a drum device rotating around a slanted axis. Using spraying devices the seeds were coated with a layer of composite material consisting of a mixture of biologically active components, biogenic microelements and a binding agent. The biologically active components were as in Example 1, but their ration was 1: 20: 200. The biogenic microelements were mixed ammonium molybdenite, sodium tetraboride, cobalt chloride, zinc sulfate, iron sulfate, manganese sulfate, disubstituted potassium phosphate and monosubstituted ammonium phosphate in a 1: 1: 1: 2: 2: 2: 4: 8 ratio. The binding agent was 5% mass. starch solution. Also the drum device was loaded with organic component, i. e. powdered peat mixed with polymer water sorbent microcapsules based on acrylamide and acrylic acid copolymer with an average particle size of 0.5 mm.

Air heated to 45°C was fed to the. drum device, and seeds were rinsed in the solution for 30 minutes to an average composite material layer thickness of 4 mm. The composite material coating on the ready seed had the following composition: 0.1 % mass. biologically active components, 2.0 % mass. biogenic microelements, 5.0 % mass. polymer water sorbent granules, 15 % mass. binding agent, 7.9 % mass. water, balance organic component.

The treated seed with the coated composite material coating were planted in a 10 m2 test plot preliminarily fertilized with 2.5 kg compost based on poultry dung and agricultural plant waste (to make a 2.5 t/ha ratio). Similar popcorn seed without treatment were planted in another 10 m2 test plot to be used as a reference. The reference plot soil was fertilized with 5 kg similar compost (to make a 5 t/ha ratio).

Popcorn was grown following standard agricultural practice. The popcorn harvest for the test plot with preliminarily treated seeds was 14.8 kg at 95% germination whereas for the reference plot these parameters were 10.3 kg at 83% germination. The total compost consumption for the test plot with account of seed treatment was 4.0 kg, and for the reference plot the compost consumption was 5 kg.

Thus, the effective popcorn harvest growth was 43.7% with a 25% mass. compost saving.

Example 3. Seeds of the herb and decorative plant Echinacea purpurea were treated according to the method claimed herein. To this end, the mixed hopper of an extruder was loaded with thoroughly mixed mixtures of biologically active components, biogenic microelements, polymer water sorbent granules, an organic component and a binding agent, with the Echinacea purpurea seed.

The biologically active components were a mixture of mezoinozite, sodium salts of gibberellic'acids and N-tris (hydroxyathyl) ammonium salt of ortochlorphenyloxyacetic acid in a 1: 5: 50 ratio, and the biogenic microelements were mixture as in example 2 but in a 1: 1: 1: 2: 2: 2: 5: 5 ratio. The polymer water sorbent microcapsules were powdered polyacrylic gel with an average particle size of 0.2 mm. The organic component was biohumus dried to 30% residual moisture content, and the binding agent was lignosulfonate.

The resultant composite material was thoroughly mixed, passed through the extruder filters and loaded into a drum device where the granulated seed encapsulated in coating were blown with heated air at 45°C during drum rotation and discharged for packaging at a 7% residual moisture content. The seed granules had an average size of 12 mm x 5 mm, and the coating had the following composition: 0.1 % mass. biologically active components, 1.5 % mass. biogenic microelements, 3.5 % mass. polymer water sorbent granules, 13 % mass. binding agent, 7.0 % mass. water, balance organic component.

These granulated seeds were planted in a 10 m2 test plot.

Similar seeds of Echinacea purpurea without treatment were planted in another 10 m2 test plot to be used as a reference. The reference plot soil was fertilized with 2 kg biohumus on the basis of a vermicomposted mixture of manure and peat (to make a 2 t/ha ratio).

Each plot was watered on a daily basis with the same amount of water.

In the test plot, well-germinated shoots of Echinacea purpurea were visible in as little as 6 days and overgrew the weeds, whereas in the reference plot the Echinacea purpurea shoots were weaker than the weeds, hence additional weeding labor was required. The mature plants in the test plot had inflorescence (buds) on average 35% greater in size than in the reference plot, whereas the biohumus consumption (1.6 kg) for the treatment of granulated seed planted in the test plot was 25% lower than for the reference plot.

Example 4. Sunflower seeds with an average equivalent diameter of 5 mm were fed to a rotating disc (plate) device. A 5 % mass. solution of binding agent was prepared on the basis of carboxymethylcellulose and sprayed onto the sunflower seed.

Following this, mixtures of biologically active components, biogenic microelements, polymer water sorbent microcapsules and organic component with the binding agent were fed to the device. The biologically active components were a mixture of mezoinozite, sodium salts of gibberellic acids and N-tris (hydroxyathyl) ammonium salt of ortochlorphenyloxyacetic acid, the biogenic microelements were a mixture of disubstituted potassium phosphate, monosubstituted ammonium phosphate, ammonium molybdenite, sodium tetraboride, cobalt chloride, zinc sulfate, iron sulfate and manganese sulfate. The composites were coated by analogy with Example 2. The polymer water sorbent capsules were acrylic acid copolymer with an average size of 1 mm, and the organic component was powdered compost based on poultry dung and peat. The encapsulation was implemented for 30 minutes with warm air blowing at 40°C. The final drying of the seed was on a belt conveyor to a 10% residual moisture content. The treated seed with coated composite material had an average layer thickness of 4 mm and the following composition: 0.02 % mass. biologically active components, 1.5 % mass. biogenic microelements, 5 % mass. polymer water sorbent granules, 5.0 % mass. binding agent, 10.0 % mass. water, balance organic component.

These granulated seeds were planted in a 10 m2 test plot.

Similar seeds without treatment were planted in another 10 m2 test plot to be used as a reference. The test plot soil was fertilized with 3 kg compost on the basis of poultry dung and peat (to make a 3 t/ha ratio). The reference plot soil was fertilized with 6 kg similar compost (to make a 6 t/ha ratio). Sunflower was grown following standard agricultural practice. The sunflower harvest for the test plot with preliminarily treated seeds was 8.5 kg at 96% germination whereas for the reference plot these parameters were 6.0 kg at 82% germination. The total compost consumption for the test plot with account of seed treatment was 4.6 kg, and for the reference plot the compost consumption was 6 kg. Thus, the effective sunflower harvest growth was 41.6% with a 30.4% compost saving.

The above examples do not limit the range of possible embodiments of the method claimed herein.

Thus, the use of the preplant seed treatment method claimed herein for the preplant treatment of agricultural cereal and vegetable cultures increases the harvest and reduces the consumption of organic and mineral fertilizers per unit product and, in case of herbs and decorative plants, the efficiency is manifested by an improvement in seed germination, accelerated plant growth, improved quality of harvests, resistance to weed and lower labor consumption for growth.