Sorghum Seed Treatment

Sorghum has since 1930 become a major South Dakota crop. One of the highly beneficial farm practices involved in successful sorghum production in this state is seed treatment. Covering the seed with a mold-killing dust before planting has a threefold effect: 1. It completely controls smut. Smutted heads develop only on plants grown from seed infected during germination by smut carried on the seed. By killing the seed-borne smut, seed treatment prevents infection and insures a stand of smut-free plants. 2. It prevents seed decay by molds in cold, wet soil. Sorghum stands often fail in South Dakota when the seed lies in cold wet soil during unseasonably cold weather. 3. It kills molds on the seed. These molds usually develop during storage. Moldy seed is less likely than clean seed to produce a satisfactory stand. This circular tells what seed treatment materials to use for these purposes and gives the results of their use in experiments at the South Dakota Station