Seed Treatment at Bayer: More than 90 years of experience and innovation

The use of seed treatment has been recorded as early as 2000 B.C. In the days of the Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires, people used olive residues, ashes and the sap of onions or cypress to disinfect the surface of seeds. In the Middle Ages, this was replaced by liquid manure and chlorine salt treatments. From 1660 onwards, salt water, copper or hot water treatments became state of the art. Yet all these methods were only partially successful at best. Even treatment with highly-toxic arsenic failed to completely interrupt the cycle of infection and re-infection.




Efficient products as early as 1915

At the end of the 19th century it was discovered that mercury compounds are active against fungal pathogens that cause cereal diseases. Subsequent developments are inseparable from the name “Bayer”. Chemist Georg Wesenberg, then Head of the Bacteriological Laboratory in Bayer’s Pharmaceutical Department, identified chlorophenol mercury as a substance that effectively controlled fungal pathogens without impairing the ability of the treated seeds to germinate. In 1914 Bayer put the active substance onto the market as a liquid seed treatment under the trade name “Uspulun”. It was followed by an Uspulun formulation for dry application which was safer for the operator and, by the end of the 1920s, by Ceresan® powder which combined greater efficacy with a lower mercury content.




A new product generation

These pioneer seed treatment products were replaced at the end of the 1970s by a new generation of mercury-free products. Their standard-bearer since 1980 has been the systemically active Baytan® containing the active ingredient triadimenol. The product penetrates into the seed and as the seed germinates, the active substance is distributed throughout the young plant.


Protection against insect pests

Bayer CropScience also leads in the development of insecticidal seed treatment products. The discovery in 1985 of imidacloprid opened up entirely new perspectives in seed treatment product research. Available on the market since 1991, it is now one of Bayer CropScience’s most important active substances. With the systemic seed treatment Gaucho®, Bayer initiated a revolution in crop protection. The application of the product directly onto the seed rendered the then current practice of applying insecticidal sprays to young seedlings unnecessary. Today, Poncho®, containing the active ingredient clothianidin, is the star in Bayer CropScience’s insecticidal seed treatment portfolio.


Milestones of/in Bayer seed treatment

	1914 – 1930	Uspulun Ceresan®
	1930 – 1960	Germisan Morkit®
	1970 – 1980	Mesurol® Pomteral® Oftanol® T
	1981 – 1990	Baytan® Sibutol® Baytan universal liquid seed treatment Mesurol liquid
	1991 – 2000	Monceren® liquid Gaucho® Raxil® S Arena® C Landor® CT Gasur® Manta® Plus Akteur® Chinook® Ferial® Blé Ferial® Orge
	2001 – 2008	Galmano® Imprimo® Montur® Cropstar® Amparo® Poncho® Redigo Deter® Elado® Prosper® Redigo® Bariton® Scenic® Lamardor® EfA® Atento®

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