Joseph de la Torre, from Granada Coating: ″There's a growing demand for pelleting and pregermination of seeds to increase productivity and save costs″

"Over the last five years, there has been an increase in the demand for treatments such as seed pelleting and pre-germination, or priming, as growers know that they must become more efficient, obtain the highest possible yields and reduce costs in order to remain competitive," says Joseph de la Torre, commercial director of Granada Coating, a Spanish company devoted to seed treatment and pelleting based in the municipality of Motril, on the coast of Granada.

Pelleting is a seed coating process carried out with the goal of obtaining pills with a uniform weight and caliber, a smooth surface, and a practically spherical shape. This allows for greater accuracy and efficiency in the operation of automatic seeding devices. The pills are produced in different sizes and colors, depending on the customer's needs.

"Seed treatments are one of the most cost-effective options for seed producers, seed growers, and agricultural producers," says Joseph de la Torre. "Aiming to protect and get the most out of their seeds while reducing costs, large seed houses are increasingly turning to pelleting," he says.

"Pelleting is essential for precision planting of very small seeds or seeds with irregular shapes and sizes. It also allows the application of crop protection products, such as fungicides, as well as nutrients, directly to the seed at planting time. Beneficial microorganisms such as mycorrhizae or trichodermas can also be applied to the crop," says Joseph.

Seed pelleting is well established in crops such as leeks and onions, with a very high percentage of the production in Spain coming from seeds treated in this way, says Joseph. There is also great potential in open-ground crops, particularly leafy greens, and brassicas, because the pellets can be used in automatic planting machines, helping save costs.

"Greenhouse crops such as cucumber, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato, melon, and watermelon are also increasingly relying on treatments such as priming or pre-germination," says the commercial director of Granada Coating. "This accelerates the germination process and allows its homogenization, ensuring a significantly lower amount of discards, since the plants obtained are stronger and, therefore, seed nurseries suffer fewer losses."

Granada Coating began its journey in 1998 when the first laboratory trials were carried out in some small open ground growing areas. "During the first eight years, we did not have much demand, as there was certain skepticism about the benefits of these methods; however, this has been changing in recent times, as rising production costs have 'got out of hand,'" concludes Joseph de la Torre.

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