Pneumatic sowing apparatus for precise sowing of small seeds crops

Increasing acreage under perennial grasses with high protein content is constrained by shortages of seeds these crops. One solution to this problem is the issue of improving the quality of sowing for seeds with small rates (2-4 kg/ha). Application of mass-produced seeders for sowing of small seed of grasses cannot provide the required sowing rate, this resulting in over expenditure of expensive seeds and decreasing yield. To ensure these conditions on the basis of the sowing device universal seeder SUPM-8, which consists of two rivet interconnected disks of different thickness, and met them through holes, was developed a new pneumatic seed meter between the disks installed grid with mesh of the same size or larger than the sowing seeds. Setting the grid allowed in the process of seeding apparatus of small seed crops exclude flowing in the zone of seed filling in the vacuum chamber. To define parameters and modes of operation of the new sowing apparatus experimental studies on test bench were conducted. It was found that the number of seeds brought forth by a single mesh is directly related to the value of vacuum in all diameters of the holes. To get moderately dense sowing (1 m2 - 50-60 plants) according to the field germination quantity of plants should be 6-8. This amount of seeds was secured when using disk with the following parameters: thickness of 2.0 mm, diameter of holes 3 mm and the value of vacuum MPa. In the year 2015 experimental sample seeding sections were produced, and the field experience started. The conducted experiments showed the availability of pneumatic sewing machine, the full emergence of alfalfa was observed at the 12-day, the field germination rate was 78.8 %, the number of plants per 1 linear meter in average was 33 with an average quadratic deviation ±12 mm and 52.1 % coefficient of variation that fully complies with agricultural requirements. The application of modernized sowing sections with new pneumatic sowing apparatus allowed under performing widerow sowing to reduce sowing rate of expensive small seed by 2 times and operational costs by 15-20 %.