The influence of the timing and methods of harvesting the seed grass of the eastern goat’s rue (Galega orientales Lam.) on the yield and sowing quality of seeds

Abstract

Eastern goat’s rue (Galega orientales Lam.) possesses high fodder productivity and accumulates a large amount of vegetative mass with high humidity for harvesting for seeds. This greatly complicates the harvesting of grass stand for seeds. One of the ways to solve this problem is to carry out desiccation of the grass stand. A complicating factor in choosing the optimal harvesting period is the extended flowering and ripening period of goat’s rue beans, the duration of which reaches 25-35 days. The use of the drug Reglon Super based on diquat is a highly effective agrotechnical method that allows increasing the collection of seeds by 24%. The desiccation of the herbage contributes to the production of seeds with high sowing qualities. The seeds with the best sowing qualities are found in beans with yellow, brown, brown or dark brown color of the beans. In light green beans, the seeds are fully formed, but have a high moisture content. Goat’s rue beans do not crack or crumble at the onset of the full ripeness phase. This allows the seed to be harvested when most of the beans are ripe. A comparative assessment of the timing and method of harvesting the seed herbage of the goat’s rue showed that with a ripening of 39% and the presence of 47% of light green and yellow beans, the yield losses ranged from 26 to 56%. The highest seed yield in one confidence interval of 422-453 kg / ha and 444 kg / ha was obtained, respectively, by direct threshing with preliminary desiccation of the grass stand in the ripening phase of 74-97% of beans or by separate harvesting when mowing into swaths during ripening 74 % beans.