Design for Fabrication of Effective Seed Cane Hot Water Treatment Plant for Ethiopian Sugar Estates/Projects

Abstract

Sugarcane is prone to infection by a large number of diseases that can impact significantly on productivity. Diseases caused by systemic pathogens (those that occur within the plant tissues) can introduce into a new crop by the planting of infected seed cane. So as to avoid such disease causing systemic organisms treatment of the seedcane is mandatory. The initial treatment of the seedcane often includes the routine application of thermotherapy to eliminate fungal and bacterial pathogens as well as pests. Especially for the control of smut, RSD and Albino (Mycoplasma) hot water treatment is preferable; because most of infections are killed at a temperature slightly lower than that lethal for sugarcane. Therefore, Hot water Treatment is an effective method for the elimination of pathogenic infections that are seed piece transmissible. Uniformity of temperature, proper circulation of water, Keeping 1: 4 and avoiding heavy packing of seed materials are the main requisites for successful treatment. Keeping the above facts in to consideration a rotary circular pattern treatment tanker and an automatically controlled heating tanker has been designed at Wonji/showa. The plant is designed to use both steam and electric power independently or simultaneously as a source of heat by making simple adjustment on the heating tanker. The treatment plant incorporates three successive tankers namely; 1. Water heating tanker on which the heating, limit switch and water circulating mechanisms are installed. 2. Seed cane treatment tanker on which water circulating, temperature control and avoiding heavy dumping mechanisms are installed. 3. Fungicide dipping tanker. The three tankers have been designed to plant with chronological order of the work flow and a bulk of planting material will be successfully treated by this system.