Influence of Seed Quality Upgrading by Processing Machines in Soybean var. DSb-21

Abstract

Background: Soybean is the “Miracle crop” of the 21st century due to its nutritional value and multiple uses. Maintenance of soybean seed quality is a major issue as it is more vulnerable to mechanical damage from harvesting to next sowing. Seed processing.by use of individual or combination of machineries will help in getting physically pure, uniform, healthy sound seeds with enhanced planting value. With the advent of new improved varieties, it is advisable to find out the individual or combination of seed processing machines like air screen cleaner, specific gravity and spiral separator to find out the effective and economical seed processing to get maximum recovery with up-graded quality of seeds.Methods: The seeds of soybean var. DSb-21 were used for seed size grading using different sieve sizes and the good seeds obtained from different size grading were processed through specific gravity separator and the good seeds obtained from specific gravity separator were further processed through spiral separator and the processed seeds obtained from these machine combinations were used to assess the seed quality. The seed processing was carried out at Seed Processing Unit and seed quality studies were carried out in the Seed Quality and Research Laboratory, Seed Unit, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad during 2017-18. The experiment was laid in completely randomized design.Result: The influence of sequential processing through seed size grader followed by specific gravity separator and spiral separator on seed quality revealed that, the good seeds obtained from spiral separator after seed grading with recommended sieve size 3.75 mm recorded higher recovery (76.95%), seed germination (89.00%), seedling vigour index (3567) and lower seed mechanical damage (11.67%) followed by 4.00 mm (74.80%, 87.33%, 3418 and 12.33%, respectively) and 4.80 mm (65.64%, 85.00%, 3209 and 13.67%, respectively).