| abstract |
A new method of processing a plant seed wherein a coating treatment is applied to a plant seed with an aqueous alkali salt solution of an aqueous gel to form a coating layer thereon and said coating layer is reacted with an aqueous solution of a divalent or trivalent metal salt to render the coating layer insoluble to water. Particularly, the improvement is accomplished by encapsulating the plant seed in the above mentioned gel coating together with an air bubble. This encapsulation is performed by means of a nozzle having a telescopic structure, in which a plant seed and air is supplied through the inner passage while the gel is supplied the surrounding annular passage. The nozzle is used in a vertical orientation and the lower end performs a valve function to control the gel supply. |