Effect of physical seed treatment on yield and quality of crops: A review

Seed treatments are the biological, physical and chemical agents and techniques applied to seed to provide protection and improve the establishment of healthy crops. The benefits of seed treatments are increased germination, uniform seedling emergence, protect seeds or seedlings from early season diseases and insect pests improving crop emergence and its growth. Anthropogenic changes of the soil, water and atmosphere due to the use of different chemical additives for raising plants productivity led to searching alternative ways. Safe methods for increasing the yield includes the reasonable use of chemicals and substitution of some of them by appropriate physical treatments viz., magnetic field, gamma irradiation, electric field, laser irradiation, sound, healing energy, light and heat.