Assessment of the level of technical support of harvesting processes and analysis of its impact on grain quality

Technical means for harvesting grain crops play an important role in obtaining quality products. However, the level of provision of farms with combines, especially domestic ones, is constantly decreasing. Over the past 10 years, the gross harvest of grain crops has increased from 40 to 100 million tons. Along with this, the load per unit of grain harvesting equipment has increased significantly from 200-240 ha to 400-425 ha. In addition, the cost of grain harvesting equipment is increasing and, as a result, the number of new, high-tech machines in the agricultural machinery fleets is decreasing. All these factors have a negative impact on the timing of harvesting, which entails grain losses as a result of its self-shedding. In addition to losses from selfshattering, the quality indicators of grain have deteriorated as a result of overstaying. The article presents the results of studies of the physical and chemical composition of the grain heap of wheat of full ripeness and after overripe on the root for 12 days. Protein losses amount to 1-3 kg per 1 ton of grain, starch - 3-6 kg. The content of vitamin B1 has significantly reduced by 1,3-1,5 times, zinc - by 7-14%, iron - 2-3%. The overripe increases in the content of phosphorus (0,19-0,21%), vitamin E (5,14-8,76 mg / kg), as well as to a small extent in the mass fraction of fiber (0,06-0,08%) and ash (0,06-0,08%). To comply with the agrotechnological deadlines, it is advisable to harvest the grain before full ripeness. Such harvesting can be carried out with a new stripping and threshing unit for harvesting cereal crops, developed at DSTU and ARC «Donskoy».