Seed Guide - 2021 - 5

" My component of the research is dealing with
applied research trying to improve the seedling and
transplant quality, " Leskovar said.
The team of researchers includes Alan Taylor
from Cornell University and Bob Geneve from the
University of Kentucky, who Leskovar described
as " pioneers in this multi-state regional project for
more than 25 years. "
Taylor, a seed science and technology specialist,
said Cornell's AgriTech seed treatment and
coating lab where he works is the only land grant
university in the country equipped to apply seed
treatment and coatings. His
work has focused on seed
coatings as a delivery system
for biological stimulants, pest
management seed treatments
and even materials to help
with germination, such as
super-absorbent polymers,
which soak up water from the
surrounding soil and make
it available to the seed. A
paper he published last year
showed the use of soy flour and
vermicompost, showing that
even these natural materials
were effective biostimulants for the seeds when used
as a coating.
" Especially the high-value vegetable crops can really
benefit from the enhancement, because the seeds are
already coated by seed companies, " Taylor said. " So
let's go ahead and not just put something that's an
inert material in the coating. Put in something that,
I'll say, 'revs' up the seeds, as far as the physiology of
the seeds, to get them to grow faster. "
Another research area for the group is the
" preconditioning " of transplants in the nursery,
preparing them for field conditions.
This is the commercial equivalent of how gardeners
" harden off " transplants before spring planting, but
" it's also possible to precondition transplants earlier
in their development, " Leskovar said.
" You can have a transplant preconditioning prior
to being shipped to the grower, as well as during the
seeding development - you can precondition plants to
have a better performance later on in the field, " he said.
Other projects in the past have included research
into priming seed - initializing germination of seed
before planting- and also phenotyping, or finding
markers of desired genetic traits, for plant-breeding
programs.
" It's not a single technique, it's a package of
techniques that can be put into the seed to improve
their performance, " Leskovar said.
Tomato techniques
Much of Lescovar's work is focused on the
development of grafting tomato transplants.
Although others in the industry have explored
robotic systems for grafting large numbers of
tomato scions onto rootstocks,
Leskovar's work is focused
on the act of grafting itself
and doing it well - looking
at techniques that maximize
or improve the graft union.
Techniques such as using
plastic clips at the graft union
are tested against others.
" We are looking at the
performance of a limited
number of rootstocks, more
varieties that we grow on top
of rootstocks, and how they
respond to open fields versus,
say high tunnels, how they perform in organic
versus conventional systems, " he said.
The team will treat tomato seedlings with different
LED light qualities, media-enhancers and foliar
applications of gibberellin inhibitor, according to
a news release from Texas A&M. Pre- and postgrafting
measurements will include survival rate,
number of healed grafts, traits related to root system
architecture and shoot components, internal water
status as well as dry biomass.
To better understand the physiological,
biochemical and genetic traits underlying drought
stress tolerance in grafted plants when using wildtype
germplasm, the team will also investigate
different tomato rootstock combinations and their
responses to abiotic stresses.
" Growth, physiological activity in terms of leaf gas
exchange and biochemical aspects, such as protein,
sugars, amino acids, osmolites and antioxidant
enzymes, will be measured to get a more complete
picture of all the mechanisms involved, " Leskovar
said in the news release. VGN
VGN | SEED DIGITAL GUIDE 2021 | 5
Seed Guide - 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Seed Guide - 2021
