Physiological Effects of Insecticides and Fungicide, Applied in the Treatment of Seeds, on the Germination and Vigor of Soybean Seeds

The initial protection of plants through the use of insecticides and fungicides has been shown to be efficient for a good management of pests and diseases, however the molecules used in seed treatment have demonstrated a physiological effect on germination and initial vegetative development. The present work had as objective the evaluation of the physiological effect caused by two insecticides and a fungicide on the germination and vigor of the seeds. A randomized block design with six treatments and four replications was used. The treatments were: T1-water; T2-Rocks® insecticide; T3-Insecticide Cruiser 350 FS®; T4-Maxim XL® fungicide; T5-Rocks® + Maxim XL® and T5-Cruiser 350 FS® + Maxim XL®. The application of the treatments was performed according to the manufacturers’ recommendations and the percentage of germination of the seeds was evaluated, on paper and sand roll substrates, the rate of emergence, the total length of seedlings, the electrical conductivity of the imbibition and aging solution accelerated, with a later pattern of germination. The data were submitted to Analysis of Variance and the means were compared by the Tukey test. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences for all variables except paper germination. The treatments that received the application of the Maxim XL fungicide demonstrated superiority, both in the evaluation of germination in sand substrate, and in the vigor evaluations of seeds and seedlings, while the treatments that received application of Rocks insecticide were inferior to the other.