Farzad Delfan, Feizollah Shahbazi, Hamidreza Esvand,
Volume 10, Issue 2 (3-2024)
Abstract
Extended abstract
Introduction: The seeds of agricultural products are constantly subjected to impact forces from machines from the moment they are harvested to the time they are transferred into storage. Improper design and performance of machines in each of these stages can cause mechanical damage to seeds. Mechanical damage caused by free fall on the seed of agricultural products, which occurs during different stages of harvesting, transportation and other processes, causes a decrease in their quality and an increase in waste. This study aimed to evaluate the amount of mechanical damage caused to chickpea seeds due to the impact of free fall.
Materials and methods: The experiment was conducted as a factorial in the form of a completely randomized design with three replications. The factors included drop height (3, 6, 9 and 12 m), the contact surface (concrete, plywood, metal (iron) and seed-on-seed) and seed moisture content (10, 15, 20 and 25 %). The studied traits or the amount of damage to the seeds included the measurement of seed deterioration by the accelerated aging method (loss in germination percentage in the accelerated aging test) and the measurement of electrical conductivity.
Results: The results of the analysis of variance showed that all three factors (drop height, the contact surface and moisture content) had significant effects at p<0.01 on the loss in germination percentage in the accelerated aging test and changes in electrical conductivity of chickpea seeds. In terms of loss in germination percentage, the highest damage to seeds occurred in the metal contact (41.96%) and the least in the seed-on-seed treatments(29.71%). Also, the highest amount of electrical conductivity was related to the seeds dropped on the metal (36.09 μS cm-1g-1) and the lowest was related to seed-on-seed contact (21.68 μS cm-1g-1). As the drop height rose from 3 to 12 m, the loss in germination and electrical conductivity of seeds increased from 27.74 to 48.08% and from 18.72 to 40.47 μS cm-1g-1, respectively. Increasing the moisture content of chickpea seeds from 10 to 25% causes a decrease in the amount of damage to the seeds in terms of electrical conductivity (from 38.40 to 21.18 μS cm-1g-1). However, the damage was in the form of loss in germination percentage during the accelerated aging test (from 29.22 to 42.88 %).
Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that the movement of chickpea seeds and the subsequent free fall had a notable impact on their latent damage, leading to a decrease in germination rate and alterations in electrical conductivity. Therefore, it is recommended to minimize fall height and prevent seeds from hitting hard surfaces during seed processing and transportation to mitigate the damage.
Highlights:
- Seed deterioration tests using accelerated aging and electrical conductivity can be used as appropriate criteria to measure the mechanical damage to chickpea seeds.
- When designing machines that come into contact with the seeds, it is important to choose surfaces made of soft materials to minimize the destructive effects of the seeds falling from greater heights.
- The moisture content during the processing and transportation of the seeds should be at an optimal level of around 15%.
