Comparison of the effects of seed coating with tungsten and molybdenum compounds on seedling establishment rates of rice, wheat, barley, and soybean under flooded conditions

Abstract

Seed coating with molybdenum compounds improves seedling establishment for rice, wheat, barley, and soybean when such seeds were sown under flooded conditions. Tungsten belongs to the same chemical group as molybdenum in the periodic table, and similar to molybdenum, inhibits the generation of sulfide ions. Here, the effects of tungsten and molybdenum containing seed coatings on seedling establishment under flooded conditions were compared using rice, wheat, barley, and soybean. In rice, the effects of tungsten compounds on seedling establishment varied. Tungsten trioxide had little effect but tungstic acid and ammonium phosphotungstate significantly improved seedling establishment when the amounts were at least .1–.2 mol W kg⁻¹. Although the effect of tungsten coating varied depending on the compound used, ammonium phosphotungstate, along with other tungsten compounds, improved seedling establishment in a manner comparable with that of molybdenum compounds. For wheat and barley, ammonium phosphotungstate treatment resulted in a significant increase in establishment that was only slightly less than the results observed using molybdenum compounds. Tungstic acid and ammonium phosphotungstate treatments improved soybean establishment in a significant manner that was comparable with those of molybdenum compounds. Collectively, these results suggest that tungsten compounds, as well as molybdenum compounds, improve seedling establishment under flooded conditions.

Keywords:

• Barley
• molybdenum
• rice
• seedling establishment
• soybean
• tungsten
• wheat

Classification:

• Crop Physiology

Acknowledgments

I thank Dr. Y. Takahashi (Tohoku Univ.) for advice on sulfate-reducing bacteria; Mr. N. Yasui (Japan New Metals co., Ltd.) for supplying some of the molybdenum compounds used in this study, and for the helpful comments on molybdenum and tungsten compounds; and Mrs. T. Tajima, Mrs. K. Sekimoto, and Mrs. M. Setoguchi (NARO) for assistance with the experiments.