A New Phytostimulating Treatment for Maize Seed Germination

Experimental study (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, and Istituto Sperimentale Tadini) on two maize varieties (class 400 and 700): the SOP biostimulant improved emergence speed and uniformity by +100% vs. control and outperformed traditional seed dressing, at 12 days after sowing.

Summary: Experimental study on two maize varietal classes (400 and 700), comparing untreated seeds, seeds with traditional chemical dressing, and seeds treated with the SOP biostimulant. At 12 days after sowing, the SOP treatment showed a +100% improvement in emergence speed and uniformity compared to the control, with performance superior to traditional seed dressing, as reported in the contribution.

The germination and emergence phase represents a critical point for crop establishment: emergence speed and uniformity influence population structure, intraspecific competition, and ultimately yield stability. In this context, seed dressing treatments and seed-applied biostimulants are relevant agronomic tools to support crop establishment, particularly in systems oriented toward efficiency and sustainability.

In this framework, the contribution presented at the 17th IFOAM Organic World Congress — an international peer-reviewed conference with selection by the scientific committee — describes a study conducted by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, and Istituto Sperimentale Tadini, coordinated by Professor Baffi, aimed at evaluating a new seed-applied biostimulant for maize germination.

The study considered two maize varieties belonging to different classes (class 400 and class 700) and compared three conditions: untreated seeds, seeds treated with traditional chemical dressing, and seeds treated with the SOP biostimulant. At 12 days after sowing, the contribution reports that the SOP biostimulant treatment produced a +100% improvement in emergence speed and uniformity compared to control, with results also superior to traditional seed dressing.

Overall, the evidence supports the use of a seed-applied biostimulant as an agronomic lever to improve maize emergence under the experimental conditions, with more favorable indicators of uniformity and speed of emergence compared to both the control and traditional seed dressing.