Development of controlled release formulations of thiram employing amphiphilic polymers and their bioefficacy evaluation in seed quality enhancement studies.

Controlled release formulations of Thiram (Dimethylcarbamothioylsulfanyl-N,N-dimethylcarbamodithioate), a contact fungicide, have been prepared using laboratory synthesized poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based functionalized amphiphilic copolymers. The kinetics of thiram from developed controlled release (CR) formulations were studied in comparison with that of the commercially available 75 WS. Release from the commercial formulation was faster than with the developed CR formulations. Maximum amount of thiram was released on 35th day for PEG-2000 4d, 28th day for PEG-1500 4c, 21st day for PEG-1000 4b and 15th day for PEG-600 4a in comparison to commercial formulation (7th day). The diffusion exponent (n) of thiram in water ranged from 0.356 to 0.545 in the tested formulations. The half-release (t(1/2)) values ranged between 14.78 to 22.1 days, and the Period of Optimum Availability (POA) of thiram ranged from 7.79 to 25.15 days. An effort has also been made to identify the suitable polymers that could reduce the seed deterioration during storage and also act as an effective carrier of fungicide thiram. The results demonstrate that the seeds coated with the different formulations deteriorated at a slower pace as manifested in high germination percentage over control. Apart from the fungicidal effect of thiram, the polymers acted as barriers to moisture reducing the rate of seed deterioration and checked the degradation of thiram. The CR formulation 4d, with PEG 2000, was found to be most effective as seed coat.