Designing a pre-sowing seed treatment method and a combined sowing rig

Abstract

The authors have designed a seed pelleter and a combined precision sowing rig, which are the backbone of the technology of pre-sowing treatment and seed sowing. The pre-sowing seed treatment method is based on the operation of a continuous seed pelleter, where the protective and nutritious coating is formed around the seeds while they move along a spiral trajectory. The next component of the technology is a combined sowing rig that performs several technological operations in one pass: laying of drip tape for irrigation, polyethylene film and precise sowing of seeds in the holes on the film. The trial results have shown: the ratio of the volumes of seed pellets to the plant seed is 4.25:1; the maximum moisture content of the pellets is 47.4%; during the seed pelleting process, the longitudinal seed moistening and pellet volume variance factors increases by 2.015 and 4.25 times, respectively; the optimal speed of the seed pelleter disk is 90 min−1; the time spent on the seed pelleting process is 18 to 21 min; the percentage of qualitatively coated seeds (pellets) is 98%; the unevenness of the along-the-row distribution of pellets during sowing is ±6%; the depth of seeding down is 3 to 4 cm.