Leading UK seed company, Elsoms Seeds Ltd. of Spalding, Lincolnshire has recently signed an agreement with INCOTEC International B.V., Enkhuizen, The Netherlands for a license to use their methods and material for the micro-pelleting (encrusting) of seeds.

Elsoms has been at the forefront of Seed Treatments in the UK for a number of years but decided to invest further in their seed treatment facilities & extend their capabilities to include some types of seed pelleting.

Discussions began in 2005 with INCOTEC who are one of the world’s most leading companies in the field of Seed Technology & Seed Coating Methods. Incotec is active in the treating of seeds of vegetable, flower and large acre crops. As well as having their headquarters in the Netherlands, INCOTEC has companies in the USA, Brazil, Japan, India and Australia and has licensing arrangements in many parts of the world. The license agreement with Elsoms is the first for INCOTEC in the UK and will make it possible for UK growers and UK based companies to make better use of the INCOTEC technology. For Elsoms, moving into some aspects of pelleting is a natural extension of their increasingly successful seed treatment services.

Over the past 12 months Elsoms, under INCOTEC’s guidance, have made major investments in this field, setting up machinery and developing the techniques required for pelleting. The new agreement formalises and extends this initial work. The process developed so far is a system giving a micro pill which has already proved to be successful on parsnip seed this year and is planned to be developed on other crops such as carrot, leek and onion in the near future. Elsoms has supplied primed, Wakil XL treated pelleted parsnip seed this year, see photograph below, and growers have been delighted with the results.

‘‘Seed technology can play an important role in giving crops the best start and we see this as being an evermore important part of crop production’’, said Anthony Keeling of Elsoms. "This liaison between our two companies means we can provide a better service to the seed industry and growers within the UK and we look forward to working together with INCOTEC for many years to come aiming for innovative products to give better, more regular crop establishment."