Assessment of Seed Quality Loss of Soybean under Existing Threshing Methods

Abstract

Quality seed production is an important pre requisite for the agricultural production. Soybean seeds are susceptible to mechanical injury due to its very thin seed coat which mediated damage during post-harvest handling. This injury leads to deterioration during storage. Threshing is an important postharvest operation. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of different threshing methods (mechanical, Tractor, Stick, Cattle) on soybean seed quality. The results showed significant differences among threshing methods on soybean seed quality. The seeds sampled from stick beating threshing method recorded 88.5 percent germination (normal seedling) followed by seeds sampled from cattle threshing (77.5 percent). The lowest germination of 69.5 per cent was recorded by tractor threshing method. From this study, it could be inferred that among threshing methods, beating with sticks recorded less mechanical damage and maximum germination.