ISHS Acta Horticulturae 111: Symposium on Vegetable and Flower seed Production
HARVESTING DAMAGE IN PEA SEED AND ITS INFLUENCE ON VIGOUR |
| Author: | A.J. Biddle |
| Abstract:
A project studying the causes of low vigour in vining pea seed showed that an important factor associated with seeds which produced high levels of leachates was the presence of cracks in the testae. Studies in field experiments and during the harvesting of commercial seed crops showed that mechanical threshing was the principal cause of injury. The degree of cracking could be modified by the type of harvester used and by the moisture content of the seed at harvest. High levels of seed coat cracking were found on seed which had been harvested at moisture contents in excess of 70% and this occurred again at low moisture contents. Damage was least when seed harvested between 30 and 44% was threshed in a pea viner and at about 26% moisture content when threshed in a combine harvester. The seed was subsequently dried in a cool air stream. | |
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