SEED PROCESSING EQUIPMENT
We start with your vision to develop the perfect seed processing solution for your success. Cimbria can integrate the entire operation from intake, to cleaning, grading, sorting, treatment and packaging. The result – peak performance and reliable operation.
SEED PROCESSING TRACEABILITY
The process of removal of dockage in a seed lot and preparation of seed for marketing is called seed processing. The price and quality of seed is inversely related to dockage, which should not exceed a maximum level permitted for different crops for seed certification.
Due to the operation of processing the level of heterogeneity of seed lot gets narrowed down.
The heterogeneity occurs in a seed lot due to following reasons:
Variability in soil for fertility, physical, chemical and biological properties
Variability in management practices (irrigation, application of nutrients etc.)
Variability in ability of the seedling for utilizing the inputs
Variability in pest and disease infestation
Position of pod or fruit in a plant or the position of seed in a pod.
Principle of seed processing: the processing operation carried out based on the principle of physical differences found in a seed lot.
Physical difference
Suitable machineries
Seed size – varied from small to bold Air screen cleaner cum grader
Density- ill filled, immature to well Matured light weight to dense seed Specific gravity separator
Shape – round to oval and different shapes Spiral separator
Surface texture – smooth to wrinkled and rough Roll mill / dodder mill
Colour of the seed – light color to dark colors Electronic color shorter
Conductivity of seed – low to high Electronic separator
Requirement in seed processing
There should be complete separation
There should be minimum seed loss
Upgrading should be possible for any particular quality
There should be have more efficiency
It should have only minimum requirement
Types of materials removed during seed processing
Inert materials
Common weed seeds
Noxious weed seeds
Deteriorated seeds
Damaged seeds
Other crop seeds
Other variety seeds
Off-size seeds
Sequence of operation in seed processing
Sequence of operations are based on characteristics of seed such as shape, size, weight, length, surface structure, colour and moisture content. Because each crop seed possesses individually seed structure. Therefore, sequence of operation will be applied proper equipments. However, It is also involved stages following as
Drying
Receiving
Pre-cleaning
Conditioning
Cleaning
Separating or Upgrading
Treating (Drying)
Weighting
Bagging
Storage or Shipping
The flow charts illustrating the types of materials removed from harvested produce during processing.
Harvested seed
Receiving The field run produce after threshing is received in the processing plant.
Seed movement /basic steps in seed processing plant.
Methods of seed processing
Picture 10. Belt thresher consisting of two face-to-face endless belts operating at different speeds in the same direction. (Photograph R. Whalley)
If it is decided to clean the harvested material down to dispersal units or caryopses, then a number of machines are available.
Peg-drum threshers and hammer mills
Straw should be removed by scalping or sieving before seeds are treated with peg-drum threshers or hammer mills to dress the seeds down to the caryopses, or it will be broken into fragments and prove difficult to remove later. There is a risk of damaging the caryopses with this type of equipment and seed must be examined closely under a microscope following treatment to detect damage to the embryos. Germination tests before and after treatment give a better indication of damage. The caryopses (Caryopsis - The indehiscent fruit of most grasses with a single seed, the testa (seed coat) of which is fused with the pericarp (outer wall)) are readily separated from the trash after treatment by sieving and aspiration.
For chaffy seeds, hammer mills should be run at less than half the normal grinding speed. Even so, seed with the embryo projecting beyond the endosperm (e.g. M. stipoides) will be damaged even with gentle hammer milling.
Rubbing equipment
Picture 11
Picture 11. Northrup brush thresher for dressing chaffy seeds. The seed is brushed through the screen with a rotating brush. The speed of the brush, the clearance between the brush and screen and the size of the screen can all be varied depending on the seed being treated. (Photograph R. Whalley)
Machines using the principle of rubbing seed between two surfaces include resilient cone threshers, belt threshers, and various types of brush scarifiers and dehuskers. Cone threshers consist of a cone coated with a resilient plastic material rotating inside a matching surface coated with the same material. The rubbing action removes the ancillary structures and usually does not damage the caryopses, unless they are particularly fragile. Belt threshers consist of two face-to-face endless belts operating at different speeds in the same direction (Picture 10).
They can operate in either a vertical or horizontal plane. There is some evidence that they are not as effective as cone threshers for dressing chaffy seeds.
Various types of brush threshers (Picture 11) are effective for processing chaffy seeds but, again, fragile seeds or seeds with very soft, projecting embryos (e.g. M. stipoides) will be damaged by this equipment.
Stirring
De-bearding or de-awning equipment often gently mixes the dried material in a rotating drum breaking off the awns (Awn - an elongated bristle-like appendage attached to the apex, back or base of the glume, lemma or palea) and other appendages. John Betts and Tony Wilson of Yass, NSW, have designed and built stirring equipment for threshing and separating fertile spikelets (Spikelet - consists of one or more florets and is the basic unit of the inflorescence in grasses) of T. triandra from harvested inflorescences (Inflorescence - a group of flowers borne on a stem). The harvested material is passed repeatedly through a stirring chamber and the fertile spikelets are separated from the light trash by blowing. From the air stream, the (heavier) fertile spikelets will bounce further from an angled steel plate than empty spikelets. The fertile spikelets are then separated from similarly weighted pieces of stalk and trash on an inclined bouncing fabric-covered board (Picture 12). The callus hairs of the spikelets make them stick to the fabric whereas the stalk and trash bounce off.
Burning
Dropping the dispersal units through a naked flame in order to burn off appendages has been tried with seeds of a number of different species, with limited success. The technique may be more successful with refinement.
Aerodynamic conditioning
Picture 12
Picture 12. Device for separating de-awned fertile spikelets of T. trianda from stalk fragment and other trash. The angled, fabric board bounces up and down and the spikelets are held on to it by their callus hairs whereas the other fragments bounce down the board. Designed and constructed by John Betts and Tony Wilson of Yass, NSW. (Photograph R. Whalley)
The Woodward Air-Seed Shucker is available in both laboratory and commercial versions and works on an entirely different principle from the previously mentioned treatments. The seed and trash are first delivered uniformly onto an inclined scalping screen to remove the stems and leaves and other material that might clog up the aerodynamic parts of the equipment.
The material that passes through the scalper is delivered into an air jet that accelerates the material into a discrimination chamber. Heavier dispersal units have more inertia than light particles and the chaffy appendages and awns are removed. If the force is high enough, even the lemma (Lemma - The outer bracts at the base of a grass spikelet; usually two glumes are present) and palea tightly surrounding the caryopses can be removed, although significant physical damage may result. The heavier seeds travel further through the discrimination chamber before settling out and so the seed sample can be separated into different quality classes based on seed weight.
Seed coatings
Coating or pelleting seeds with inert materials to increase the mass and 'flowability' is an option that has not been systematically explored with many native Australian grasses. Coating of introduced grass and legume seeds is a well established practice. Nutrients, ant repellents and, for legumes, Rhizobium inoculant have commonly been incorporated in these coatings. Many native Australian grasses are well adapted to soils of relatively low fertility and the placement of nutrients in contact with seeds could well have harmful effects on germination and seedling establishment. On the other hand, the use of inert materials or water absorbing polymers simply to increase the mass and 'flowability' of the dispersal units is an approach that has not been adequately tested. Unfortunately, much of the information concerning seed coatings and the materials involved, is confidential commercial information and not readily available.
Wet seed processing and saving
Seed Processing Unit
Seed Processing Unit
After harvest, the seeds need to be processed by various methods in order to keep their physical purity intact and also to increase the shell life. This should be done before seeds are kept in storage. There are various steps to be followed viz. cleaning (wet and dry), winnowing, sieving, drying, tests to ascertain the dryness of seeds. One of the crucial steps in Seed Processing is refining post-harvested seed to its purest form for replanting purposes and human/animal consumption. This involves taking the cleaned seed and coating them with a chemical, usually antimicrobial or fungicidal, to make them more robust for the field.
The seed that produced will have so many impurities like stones, weeds, trash, other crop seeds etc.
Seed processing means cleaning operation that are taken up to the raw produce from the field.
In this process the seed that is produced is going to be used as seed purpose that’s why we have to take care of the germination percentage also.
The advantage of seed processing units are:
It cleans the seed by revolving the trash and stones present in it by pre-cleaners.
It grades the seed by the shape, size etc. by removing the shrivelled and damage seed from it.
It removes other unwanted crop seed using the gravity separator.
The seed produced is uniform and by maintaining the required moisture the germination percentage achieved is good.
Seed Processing
Quality seed production involves series of processes called seed chain. One of the major step at final stage that converts raw seed into finished product and improve the quality, is called seed processing. Historically seed cleaning used to be done on the farm or at home by using three well known traditional hand tools namely, “CHANANA”, “OKHALI” and “CHHAJ”. As the population is increasing day by day and labor is not machines these traditional hand tools and are now termed as sieve, scourer and gravity separator respectively.
The processing of seed at PSC is done with the aim to provide best quality seed for major and minor crops for the farmers of the country. Punjab Seed Corporation consistently focused on quality seed which is possible only when the separation of other crops seed, removal of weed seeds, Separation of immature and shriveled seed, removal of broken, cracked, split, diseased and insect damaged seed, removal of organic impurities such as dust, dirt, sand, stones, metal pieces and mud balls etc. have been done. Further processing mechanism at PSC assures the separation of large and small sized seed for the purpose of uniformity and good appearance. The Seed treatment with chemicals is also included in the processing of quality seed. The Punjab Seed Corporation is continuously improving seed germination and market value.
The Punjab Seed Corporation processing activity grading, cleaning, polishing, and packing of the quality seed is carried out at four imported processing units from Germany Denmark and USA , permanently erected at Sahiwal, Khanewal, Rahim Yar Khan and Piplan. Three mobile cereal processing units are working at different districts of the Punjab.
The quality of the seed sold by the Punjab Seed Corporation was undoubtedly superior than the one sold by private sector and also maintains sound germination potential.
Seed business management app CGC
The app manages your seed, oilseed, cereal inventory traceability, orders, seed storage, seed sales, wholesale and export. Full business management solution for grain, seed, and cereal handling.
Organic and conventional. Generates paperwork for CGC and other government requirements; saves your time.
Create Purchase Orders to order seed inventory, or receive seed inventory from your own farms without needing an order
Record your customers orders of seed (optionally allow customers to order online using the shop, or B2B portal)
Receive bulk seed deliveries and store in silos, traceability is full maintained from the instant you receive the seed inventory, to post sales auditing and mock recalls.
Perform a quality check during the delivery process to determine waste % or dockage.
Generate Form 7 for CGC Canadian Grain Commission (sample here!) Ask us if you need more forms for your local region
Report rapidly on the total seed inventory stored in each silo, including off-site storage locations
Processing seed: Clean, sort, perform safety scanning (x-ray, magnetic) on seed stocks
Store cleaned seed inventory in clean silo
Bulk load trucks directly from seed silo for bulk sales
Pack cleaned seed inventory into 1MT, kg bags, and LB bags
Controlled seed sale process tells shipping teams exactly which inventory should be shipped to which customer
Shipping container management, temperature recorder numbers, seal number, and more for exporting seed stock
Generate reports that give you all the information you need for auditing and reporting such as CGC Weekly report, CGC Monthly Liability Report, CGC Receiving report, CGC Settlement report.
We will interview your team to custom design the best seed, grain, cereal management solution for your business.
Here's how your cereal, seed, grain management project will work:
Interview with a solution consultant so we can understand how your seed, grain, cereal business operates
We then prepare your seed, grain, cereal forms and documents to be produced by the app (CGC forms included) and adjust and special grain, cereal, seed reporting tools you may need
A quick meeting to show you the settings in your app, and how to maintain them yourself in the future if you sell new products for example. We will have entered almost all of your settings for you.
Your consultant will then present you with proposed operational processes for your seed, grain, cereal processing business. This may happen a few times because we will respond to your feedback.
Your approved operational processes for your seed, grain, cereal business will then be deployed one by one into your live business. We provide simple, written instructions you can show each team member so they don't need to remember anything or write anything down.
Review! Once you deploy the processes, we can have another review to see if there are any tweaks that would help improve your grain, cereal, seed handling processes.