Developing future seed treatments 

Our seed batch treater allows us to treat small quantities of seed which can be used to assess the impact of seed treatment ingredient combinations on maize seed quality and in-field performance. All our LumiGEN™ seed treatment options have been tested across the range of Pioneer maize hybrids sold in New Zealand.

Our seed treatment trial programme includes both laboratory and field trials. Seed quality is tested before and after treatment, and then repeatedly over the next two years to monitor the longer-term impacts on seed quality. We monitor warm germination but also use a proprietary Pioneer Stress Test (PST) to evaluate how well the seed will germinate and grow in cool, wet soils.

Our replicated, multi-year stress emergence trials are designed to test the field performance of different seed treatment formulations under local growing conditions. We plant seed ultra-early at twice the normal planting depth to replicate the toughest planting conditions seed will encounter in the field. Stress emergence trials are carefully monitored by the Research Team. Days to emergence and emergence percentage data is collected, collated, and statistically analysed.