The presence of pathogens and other stresses at germination and seedling stages affect the successful establishment of crops. The use of non-thermal plasma is a new approach to reduce such stresses. Plasma can interact with seeds and change their surface characteristics by etching, introducing functional groups and coating with exotic materials. Emerging evidence indicate that plasma treatment of seeds can enhance germination and seedling growth in crops by removal of microbial layers, changes in water uptake and other changes. Here, we review the status of research and show the potential role that plasma technology can play in addressing the challenges in food production. Major progress is possible by plasma treatments at or near atmospheric pressure where batch processing of large seed samples is possible.

Adverse environmental conditions at planting, such as cold temperature or water limitation, can lead to a reduced level of seed germination and plant establishment for cotton. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAP) treatment of cotton seeds prior to planting may help alleviate this problem. CAP is ionised gas that has a range of biological activities due to the formation of a mix of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), excited molecules, charged particles and UV photons. Our results show that a 27 minutes CAP treatment using air can significantly increase water absorption of the seed, and improve warm germination, metabolic chill test germination and chilling tolerance in cotton. We also observe that the beneficial effect of CAP treatment is long-lasting and stable as improved germination activity is still seen when treatment occurs 4 months before germination testing, suggesting that future large-scale industrial seed plasma treatments may still be effectively applied well (months) before the seed planting. We conclude that CAP treatment is a promising new tool for use in the cotton industry that has the potential to significantly improve plant establishment in a wider range of environmental conditions.

Back Cover: Non‐thermal or cold plasma treatment of agricultural seeds prior to plantation may be a new way to increase efficiency of food production in agriculture. This literature review summarises the results to date. Further details can be found in the article by Lakshman K. Randeniya and Gerard J. J. B. de Groot http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/ppap.201500042.