Dynamics of moisture content and sowing qualities of seeds in rice varieties during post-harvest ripening and storage

Abstract

Rice seeds at each stage of ripening are characterized by a certain state, structure and moisture. Such properties of rice as germination, nature, quality and duration of storage depend on moisture content. Biochemical processes in the grain do not end at the filling stage, but continue for some post-harvest period. To safely preserve the rice gene pool, it is necessary to clarify the effect of seed maturity and storage time on seed quality. The varietal characteristics of rice seeds were studied using 8 Kuban varieties harvested on days 35 and 45 after flowering. The structural-phase state of freshly harvested grain and after 5, 10 days of ripening in natural conditions at room temperatures, and then the dynamics of sowing qualities after 1, 6 and 10 months of storage are discussed. The following parameters were studied: moisture, germination, length of the seedling and seed root, mass of 1000 grains. Differences in the moisture yield of grain of different degrees of maturity, varieties with different types of grain are shown. The results of the evaluation of rice physico-chemical indicators at the end of post-harvest ripening are presented. Varieties with slow moisture yield during ripening were distinguished by increased grain size: Yakhont, Rubin, Thaibonne and Zlata. The germination of seeds increased as they ripened, compared with freshly harvested ones, after a month it increased by almost 50%, and reached its maximum value by 6 months of storage, after 10 months, on average, germination for the group of varieties has already decreased by 6%. The stage of seed harvesting significantly influenced the germination rates.