F.M.F. Corlett, C.A. Rufino, J.F. Vieira, L.C. Tavares, L.M. Tunes and A.C.S.A. Barros. The influence of seed coating on the vigor and early seedling growth of barley. Cien. Inv. Agr. 41(1): 129-136. Seed coating is a process in which a thin and uniform polymer layer is deposited on the surface of a seed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the vigor of barley seed coated with a commercial polymer and various combinations of calcium, silicon and fungicide. In addition to a control with

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... nly the polymer coating, a total of 17 seed coating treatments were used in a completely randomized factorial design (18 treatments × 4 replicates per treatment). Calcium and silicon were applied at concentrations of 0, 25 or 50 g kg -1 of seed, and 0 or 3.0 mL of fungicide was applied. The means were compared using a Duncan test (P≤0.05). The results showed that a coating of polymer, fungicide, calcium and silicon did not affect the physiological quality of the barley seed and that the use of these products can protect the seed against pathogens without affecting the rate of emergence of the barley seedlings while ensuring good seed appearance, adhesion, distribution and coloration.