Seed coating materials for cowpeas and groundnuts

The seed coating technique has been used to incorporate phytosanitary products, hormones, micronutrients, biological agents and polymers to improve seed and seedling performance. In this study, cowpea and peanut seeds were coated with a commercial polymer, cassava starch and polyvinyl acetate. After applying these materials, a black pepper plant extract and the fungicide carboxin+thiran were added to the seeds. The coating was characterised in terms of water absorption and physical, physiological and sanitary quality. The work was carried out at the Agricultural Products Processing and Storage Laboratory at UAEA/CTRN/UFCG in Campina Grande, PB, in three experiments. In the first, the water absorption of the coated seeds was studied; in the second, through physical and physiological quality tests, the best doses of the coating materials were chosen (25 and 75%); and in the third experiment, storage was assessed, which lasted 90 days for peanuts and 120 days for cowpeas.