Analysis of seed injury in a drum-type seed treater with inclined rotation axis

Presowing seed treatment is aimed at protecting seeds and future seedlings from diseases and pests. Therefore, high requirements are placed on the quality of coating seeds with pickling substances. In addition, in order to obtain the planned yield, seed losses due to injury or damage by the working bodies of machines should be minimized or completely absent. In connection with the tightening of requirements for compliance with environmental standards in the production of agricultural products, restrictions are imposed on the use of chemical plant protection products. One of the ways of an early transition to organic agricultural production is the use of legumes as nitrogen-fixing plants, which, thanks to nodule bacteria, compensate for the lack of nitrogen in the soil and increase its fertility in a natural way. Peas are the most popular legume crop grown in the Rostov region. More than 135 thousand ha have been allocated for sowing peas and other legumes crops in the Rostov region. One of the main reasons for the insufficient use of the potential productivity of leguminous crops is the injury of seeds by the working bodies of machines when performing agro-technological operations of preparing seeds for sowing. The purpose of the experimental study was to test the scientific hypothesis that the use of polyurethane elastomers as materials for the manufacture of working elements of seed processing machines allows reducing the impact of working elements on seeds and intensifying the pre-treatment process. The article analyzes experimental studies of injury to seeds in a drum seed treater, with a working container made of materials of varying rigidity: elastomer, steel with a polymer coating and without a polymer coating. During the research, the plan of the three-factor Box-Benkin experiment was used at three levels. The analysis of the obtained results showed that the container made of elastomer is less traumatic, and the steel container is the most traumatic for pea seeds (8% of damaged seeds from the total volume of treated seeds). Therefore, in order to ensure minimal damage to seeds (less than 1%) with a uniformity of coating with dressing preparations over 98%, it is necessary to use an elastomer as a material for the manufacture of working containers for treating seeds before sowing.