CA2219495A1 - Method and device for presowing treatment of seed material - Google Patents

Method and device for presowing treatment of seed material Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2219495A1
CA2219495A1 CA002219495A CA2219495A CA2219495A1 CA 2219495 A1 CA2219495 A1 CA 2219495A1 CA 002219495 A CA002219495 A CA 002219495A CA 2219495 A CA2219495 A CA 2219495A CA 2219495 A1 CA2219495 A1 CA 2219495A1
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output
frequency
input
low
seeds
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Nikolai Fedorovich Morozov
Anatoly Grigorievich Chetverikov
Nikolai Nikolaevich Morozov
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    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01CPLANTING; SOWING; FERTILISING
    • A01C1/00Apparatus, or methods of use thereof, for testing or treating seed, roots, or the like, prior to sowing or planting
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01CPLANTING; SOWING; FERTILISING
    • A01C1/00Apparatus, or methods of use thereof, for testing or treating seed, roots, or the like, prior to sowing or planting
    • A01C1/02Germinating apparatus; Determining germination capacity of seeds or the like
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01GHORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
    • A01G7/00Botany in general
    • A01G7/04Electric or magnetic or acoustic treatment of plants for promoting growth

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Environmental Sciences (AREA)
  • Soil Sciences (AREA)
  • Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
  • Botany (AREA)
  • Ecology (AREA)
  • Forests & Forestry (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physiology (AREA)
  • Pretreatment Of Seeds And Plants (AREA)

Abstract

The proposed method of treating seeds before sowing involves exposing the seeds to a low-frequency electromagnetic field. Use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field with a frequency matching the resonance frequency of the intraglobular transformations in the seeds during conformational oscillations. Specifically, the 8-19 Hz range is used. The device used for carrying out the method comprises a source (1) of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations and an emitter (2) which is electrically connected to the source (1) and produces radiation which is directed onto the seeds. The low-frequency source (1) is designed to allow adjustment of the signal frequency within the 8-19 Hz range and of the signal shape in accordance with the intraglobular transformations in the seeds undergoing treatment.

Description

CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRESOWING TREATMENT
OF SEED MATERIAL
s Te~ n;~l Field The present invention relates in general to farming practice and has particular reference to a method and device for presowing treatment of seed 0 pieces.

Background Art It is known commonly that accelerated maturity and increased crop yielding capacity depends directly on the quality of seed material.
Electromagnetic radiation of different spectra and ranges has found widespread use for upgrading the seed material.
Thus, known in the art presently is a method for treatment of the seed material by being irradiated with an optical-range electromagnetic radiation (US, A, 4,041,642).
However, said method suffers from a low throughput capacity, since but a thin layer of seeds can be treated due to a very high degree of optical radiation absorption by the seed material.
One prior-art device for treating seed material carrying into effect said 2s method is known to comprise a source of an optical-range electromagnetic radiation (cf. the above reference).
However, said device is disadvantageous in having too a low throughput capacity for the same reason.
Another state-of-the-art method for presowing treatment of seed material is known to comprise a magnetic activation of seeds, based on interaction of a gradient magnetic field with the moving charged particles located inside various plants (SU. A, 1,253,445).
According to said method, a magnetic field gradient is established by displacing a large amount of material under treatment which involves 3s considerable power consumption.

CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 A prior-art device for presowing treatment of seed material is known to realize the aforediscussed method, comprising permanent magnets spaced some distances apart lengthwise a seed transporting conveyer (cf. the same reference).
s Seeds are treated in said device with a magnetic field having a frequency of f = I/T . (T = 21/V), where I is the spacing between a pair of magnets (+, -), V is the speed of material transportation along the conveyer, which 0 speed is close but is not equal to the frequency of conforming oscillations, since to set a distance between the poles of the magnets that would correspond to an unstable transportation speed of material along the conveyer belt is a very hardtask, because the belt traversing speed in now-existing conveyers depends on the load thereon and therefore lies within a definite speed range.
Thus, said device is bulky, and said method requires much area and time to be carried into effect.
Attempts have also been made to use low-frequency electromagnetic radiation.
Known in the art is a method for presowing treatment of seed material, consisting in exposing material under treatment to the effect of a low-frequencyelectromagnetic field (cf. collected papers entitled "Effects of natural and weak artificial magnetic fields on biological objects", 1973, Belgorod, pp.22 (in Russian).
According to said method, use is made of a low-frequency (20 Hz and 2s higher) for treating millet seeds.
However, said method failed to find widespread application due to an extremely low efficiency and unstable results, inasmuch as an increase in crop yielding capacity is very low or no increase whatever is obtained.
Thus, the aforediscussed method suffers from instability of the results obtained, that is, as low as a 8-10% gain in crop yield, the probability of occurrence of the event being about 52%.
A device for presowing treatment of seed material carrying the aforementioned method into effect is known to comprise a source of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations, and a radiator electrically connected to CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 said source and emitting an electromagnetic radiation directed to the material under treatment (cf. the same collected papers).
The aforementioned device uses a standard low-frequency oscillator of sinusoidal oscillations as the source of electromagnetic oscillations. However, 5 the effect produced by such a low-frequency electromagnetic field on the material under treatment is very much inefficient, since a gain in crop yield isextremely low, amounting but to 8-10%. As a result, the device carrying said method into effect failed to find extensive use.

o Disclosure of the Invention The present invention has for its principal object to provide a method for presowing treatment of seed material. wherein a low-frequency electromagnetic field has such parameters that treatment of seed materials with 5 said field ensures a material and stable increase in the yielding capacity of farm crops by 20-25% and the accompanying upgrading of the products obtained, as well as a device for presowing treatment of seed material carrying said method into effect, wherein a source of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations has such a construction arrangement that allows of treatment a large amount of 20 seeds with a view to increasing the crop yielding capacity by 20-25%. which in turn allows of extending the field of application of said device.
The foregoing object is accomplished due to the fact that in a method for presowing treatment of seed material, consisting in exposing the material under treatment to the effect of a low-frequency electromagnetic field, 25 according to the invention, use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field having a frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of intraglobular transformations (rearrangements) in the material under treatment due to the effect of conforming oscillations.
It is desirable that use be made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field 30 having an energy level below the energy of rupture of hydrogen bonds in the material under treatment.
Though we do not pretend to put forward any theoretical prerequisite in this respect, we however believe that presowing treatment of material is influenced by the following two hitherto-known factors, namely, high sorption CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 activity of proteins-enzymes (cf. D.E.Koshland, J. Theor. Biol., v.2, 1962, p.75), resulting in formation of a nonspecific enzyme-substrate complex that inactivates the enzyme, and the presence of oscillatory processes resulting in intramolecular (intraglobular) chemical transformations (rearrangements) that 5 destruct said nonspecific enzyme-substrate complex and reactivate the enzyme to form a specific enzyme-substrate complex (cf. Ye.P.Chetverikov, "Biofizika", v.13, 1968, Moscow, p.864 (in Russian).
However, formation of a nonspecific enzyme complex, though basically conducive to stabilization of the system, at the same time brings certain lo enzymes "out of play", as it were, thus affecting adversely the efficiency of the process of catalysis. Under natural conditions the system develops conforming oscillations of the relaxation nature. Formation and relaxation of a stabilizingnonspecific enzyme complex feature rather low-frequency oscillations, while the thus-formed complex has weak bonds. This enables the enzyme to periodically 5 "get rid of" the nonspecific substrate and to form a specific enzyme-substratecomplex, that is, to participate in the metabolic processes of the system.
The aforediscussed processes are quite practicable provided that the discrete levels of free energy of the complex are adequately close to one another (which is quite probable for a nonspecifically bound enzyme complex, since in 20 this case a complete energy of oscillation of a molecule of the sorbent either exceeds or equals the activation barrier) and are separated from one another by a relatively low energy or entropy barrier with which a comparatively small number of weak bonds are to be changed consecutively for transition from one state into another. To meet such a condition is quite enough, since fluctuation 2s of oscillation energy can have time to occur at a low collisional frequency in an "energized" molecule.
The aforedescribed process of relaxation of the complex can be promoted by an externally applied effect, consisting in an additionally applied energy in the form of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations in a resonance 30 mode.
The aforesaid resonance frequency can be calculated using the known formula for calculating the tunnel transfer frequency (cf. L.A.Blumenfeld, "Problems of biological physics", 1974, Nauka PH, Moscow, p.229 (in Russian):

- CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 O . exp . (2L/h 2m(U - Eo)~
where ~ is the frequency of intraglobular transfer;
c~O is the collisional frequency of electrons;
m is the electron mass;
Eo is the level-to-level transition energy;
L is the barrier height;
U is the barrier width;
h is the Planck's constant.
The thus-calculated frequency can virtually be used for the treatment o proposed herein.
It is at said frequency, as has been stated before, that there is ruptured at least one of the weak bonds of the enzyme complex contained in the material under treatment, and electronic density in the enzyme molecule is redistributed,which leads to a noticeable increase of enzymatic activity, with the resultant 5 accelerated growth and development of the seeds sown after having been subjected to the herein-proposed treatment. The energy of the radiation used is not to exceed the energy of rupture of hydrogen bonds equalling 4-4.5 kcal/mole.
Generally, the required effect can be attained virtually for the seeds and 20 tubers of all kinds of plants when using electromagnetic oscillations having a frequency of from 8 to 19 Hz. Such a treatment should be carried out not later than ten days before sowing.
Frequencies below 8 Hz and above 19 Hz lie beyond the limits of the resonance frequencies of intraglobular transformations in the plants that have 25 been used in experiments. It is quite possible that some organic substances exist that fall out the aforestated range and have the resonance frequencies of intraglobular transformations that are below 8 Hz and above 19 Hz, but such substances have not yet been found.
The foregoing object is accomplished also due to the fact that in a device 30 for presowing treatment of seed material carrying into effect the method disclosed hereinabove and comprising a source of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations~ and a radiator electrically connected to said source and emitting an electromagnetic radiation directed to the material under CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 treatment, according to the invention, the source of electromagnetic oscillations is adjustable for radiation frequency within a range of from 8 to 19 Hz, as wellas for shape of the radiated signal so as to suit the intraglobular transformations occurring in a given seed material.
s It is desirable that the source of electromagnetic oscillations be adjustable also for radiation power.
It is expedient that provision be made in the proposed device for a means for control over operation of the adjustable source of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations, the output of said means being electrically o connected to said adjustable source.
The source of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations may also comprise a means for shaping the radiated signal as to frequency and form, said means being electrically connected to the output of the control means and to the radiator.
The source of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations may additionally comprise a means for adjusting the radiation time and power, electrically connected to the output of the control means and to the radiator.
It is also expedient that the device be provided with a computer having its output connected to the input of the control means.
The means for shaping the radiated signal as to frequency and form may comprise a standard-frequency oscillator having a first output and a second output, a synthesizer of the radiated signal phase count having a first input and a second input and an output, said first input of said synthesizer being connected to the first input of said standard-signal oscillator, while said second input thereof is connected to the output of the control means, and a radiated signal shape synthesizer having a first input, a second input, a third input, and an output, said first input of said shape synthesizer being connected to the second output of said standard-signal oscillator, while said second input thereof is connected to the output of the synthesizer of the radiated signal phase count, and the third input of said shape synthesizer is connected to the output of the control means, and the output thereof is connected to the radiator.
It is desirable that the means for adjusting the radiation time and power comprises a timer having its input connected to the output of the control CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 means, and an adjustable power amplifier having a first input and a second input, and an output, said first input being connected to the timer output, saidsecond input, to the output of the radiated signal shape synthesizer of the means for shaping the radiated signal, while the output of said power amplifier 5 is connected to the radiator.
Such a construction arrangement of the proposed device carrying into effect the proposed method, according to the invention, provides for a material and stable increase in the yielding capacity of farm crops and the accompanying upgrading of the products obtained, since it makes it possible to increase the o crop yielding capacity using neither chemical fertilizers nor herbicides, both of which, especially of the latter, are a harmful impurity of foodstuffs which affects their quality.

Brief Description of the Drawing In what follows the present invention is explained in the disclosure of an exemplary embodiment thereof given by way of illustration to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing presenting a block diagram of the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention.
Best Method of Carrying Out the Invention The method for presowing treatment of seed material, according to the invention, consists in that the material under treatment are exposed to the effect 25 of a low-frequency electromagnetic field.
Use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field having a frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of intraglobular transformations (rearrangements) in the material under treatment due to the effect of conforming oscillations, and an energy level below the energy of rupture of 30 hydrogen bonds in the material under treatment.
Use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field having a frequency of from 8 to 15 Hz.
The seed material is treated not later than ten days before sowing.

Given below is a detailed description of the proposed device for presowing treatment of seed material, carrying into effect the method, according to the invention.
The device of the present invention comprises a source I of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations and a radiator 2 electrically connected to the source I and emitting the electromagnetic radiation directed to the materialunder treatment (omitted in the drawing).
The source I of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations is adjustable for frequency within the range of from 8 to 19 Hz, for shape of the radiated lo signal in order to suit the intraglobular transformations occurring in a given seed material, and for radiation power.
The device, according to the invention, comprises also a means 3 for control over operation of the adjustable source 1, the output of said means being electrically connected, through a bus 4, to the adjustable source 1, and acomputer having its output connected, through a bus 6, to the input of the means 3.
The source I of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations comprises a means 7 for shaping the radiated signal as to frequency and form, and a means 8 for adjusting the radiation time and power.
The means 7 for shaping the radiated signal as to frequency and form comprises a quartz-crystal standard-frequency oscillator 9 having a first output 10 and a second output I 1, a synthesizer 12 of the radiated signal phasecount having a first input 13, a second input 14, and an output, the first input 13 of the synthesizer 12 being connected to the first input 10 of the standard-frequency oscillator 9, while the second input 14 of the latter is connected to the output of the control means 3 through the bus 4, and a radiated signal shape synthesizer I S having a first input 16, a second input 17, a third input 18, and an output, the first input 16 of the shape synthesizer IS
being connected to the second output 11 of the standard-frequency oscillator 9, the second input 17 of the synthesizer IS is connected to the output of the synthesizer 12 through a bus 19, and the third input of the shape synthesizer 15is connected to the output of the control means 3 through the bus 4.
The means 8 for adjusting the radiation time and power comprises a timer 20 having its input connected to the output of the control means 3 CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 through the bus 4, and an adjustable power amplifier 21 having a first input 22,a second input 23, and an output, the first input 22 being connected to an output 24 of the timer 20, and the second input 23 is connected to the output ofthe radiated signal shape synthesizer 15, while the output of the power amplifier 21 is connected to the radiator 2.
The control means 3 comprises a unit 25 for storage the information on the operating mode of the source 1, the input of the unit 25 serving at the sametime as the input of the means 3, is connected, through the bus 6, to the computer 5, while an output 26 of the unit 25 is connected to an input 27 a o control unit 28 proper, an output 29 of which is connected to an input 30 of the unit 25. The output of the control unit 28 serving as the output of the means 3,is connected, as has been described above, to the inputs 14 and 18 of the respective synthesizers 12 and 15 and to the input of the timer 20 through the bus 4.
The herein-proposed device for carrying into effect the method, according to the invention, comprises also a pulsed power supply unit 31 having its outputs electrically connected to the aforementioned functional unitsof the device, and one of its inputs connected to the output of the timer 20.
The herein-described embodiment of the device can use the functional units that are widely known to those skilled in the art and comply fully with the objects of the invention.
Thus, e.g., the source I of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations and the control means 3 may be based on integrated circuits having world-wide application.
Used as the computer 5 may be a world-renowned IBM computer.
The radiator 2 may appear as a solenoid.
Used as the pulsed power supply unit 31 may be an extensively known pulsed unit having an input and an output voltage specified in the drawing.
The operating concept of the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention, is as follows.
With a view to establishing a stable low-frequency electromagnetic field with a relative frequency setting error on the order of 10-6, the oscillator I is to be frequency-stabilized. To this end, it is the best practice to use the quartz-CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 crystal standard-frequency oscillator 9 featuring high-stability frequencies generated.
The device of the present invention operates in the following modes:
Mode A - presetting signal frequency and shape without its radiation;
Mode B - signal radiation; and Mode C - direct setting and radiating a signal.
When the device operates in mode A, a voltage of 12 V is applied to the power unit 31 from a d.c. voltage source (omitted in the drawing). Information on the frequency, shape, and power of the signal, as well as on the duration of lo the first and second signals is fed from the computer 5 through the bus 6 to the information storage unit 25 where it is stored until fresh information on mode resetting appears. The information storage unit 25 is powered from its own source, i.e., a storage battery (omitted in the drawing).
Thus, the device of the invention is ready for operation, i.e., emitting electromagnetic radiation for establishing a required field.
In further operation use of the computer 5 is no longer necessary, since the need for it arises only when resetting signal parameters, or with the deviceoperating in mode B.
When using the device for the purpose specified by the present invention, a starting signal enables the control unit 28, the information on thesignal parameters is read out and transmitted to the radiated signal shape synthesizer 15, the synthesizer 12 of the radiated signal phase count, and the timer 20.
It is in the radiated signal shape synthesizer 15 that the preset signal shape is realized stepwise with the aid of pulses generated by the quartz-crystal standard-frequency oscillator 9; for instance, when a sinusoidal signal shape ispreset, the synthesizer 15 realizes said shape stepwise.
In what follows the present invention will now be disclosed in a detailed description of a number of specific exemplary embodiments thereof by virtue of the proposed device which, however, are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Before proceeding to the various variants of presowing treatment of seed material, let us briefly consider general concepts of practical application of the proposed method for presowing treatment using the device, according to the CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 invention. Experiments were conducted with the use of the aforedescribed source I of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations which is capable of a stepless frequency control in the range of from 8 to 19 Hz and generating an output power on the order of 3 W. Radiation was directed to the material under treatment which had been stored in piles, bags, and metal containers having a capacity of up to 1000 t, with the aid of the radiator 2 which was in fact a solenoid having a diameter of 35 cm and a resistance of 6 Ohm.

Example I
0 Spring wheat seeds were subjected to presowing treatment at farm T.
with a preset frequency of 15 Hz.
The seeds were treated with electromagnetic radiation at a frequency of 15 Hz for 5 min. On the third day after treatment the specimens of the treated seeds were sown for determining the germinating capacity and growing power of the seeds in compliance with the existing world standards, and for making analysis for activity of alpha-amylase enzymes in corn seeds.
The analyses performed detected as follows: the germinating capacity, the length of the coleoptile and the root, the number of roots in the treated seeds proved to be reliably larger than in the control. Thus, the germinating capacity was 96.7% against 89.3% in the control and the number of roots was 4.7+/-0.53 against 3.26+/-0.40 in the control, i.e., larger by 44%. Activity of alpha-amylase enzymes in the treated seeds was 29.59+/-0.60 relative units against 24.08+/-0.62 relative units in the control, that is, exceeded the control by 23%.
Example 2 For treating a lot of fall wheat seeds at farm M. there was preset a frequency of 17 Hz and that preset for a lot of peaseeds was 18 Hz.
The aforementioned lots of seeds were treated by the proposed method, that is, winter wheat seeds were treated at a frequency of 17 Hz for 5 min and pea seeds were treated at a frequency of 18 Hz for the same time. The treated seeds were sown in rolls of filter paper on the second day after treatment. On the fourth day after treatment the length of rootlet and shoot was measured, CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 and the germinative energy and germinating capacity of the seeds were determined.
It has been found that the winter wheat seeds treated with the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention, exceed, as 5 compared with the control, an average length of seedling rootlet by 1.7 cm (40%), the shoot length by 1.3 cm (more than twice); the germinative energy of the treated seeds is 86% against 82% in the control, and the germinating capacity, 97% against 95% in the control.
The rootlet length in the treated pea seeds exceeds the control by 1.6 cm (40%) and the shoot length, 0.4 cm (45%). the germinative energy and germinating capacity of the treated seeds being 96~/o against 94% in the control.
It has been pointed out that an increase in the length of shoot and of the seedling rootlet in the treated seeds manifests itself in the initial germination period. In seven days after treatment, in case of heterotrophic feeding, the stimulating effect of the treatment ceases. and the length of shoot and of seedling rootlet in the treated seeds and in the control becomes the same.

Example 3 The proposed device for carrying into effect the method, according to 20 the invention, was tested for efficiency in presowing treatment of cotton seeds in laboratory and vegetation experiments carried out at institute A.
A frequency of 19 Hz was preset for treatment. A lot of cotton seeds was treated with an electromagnetic field generated by the proposed device for 5 min without destructing the package. The control lot of cotton seeds was 25 situated at least 500 m apart from the lot under treatment.
During laboratory experiments, on the fourth day after treatment the cotton seeds were held for 18 h in tap water at room temperature (the same as the reference and control lots), whereupon the seeds were let to germinate in dishes (100 pieces per variant) at fourfold replication. On the third day after 30 placing the seeds in the dishes the number of germinated seeds was counted.
With heterotrophic feeding of the seedlings after treatment of seeds, a more active development of the seedlings was observed. The germinative energy was 96% against 86% in the control. In eight-day old cotton seedlings the length - CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 of roots increased by 15 mm on the average against the control, the weight of roots, by 14%, and the weight of shoots, by 1 3~/o.
A still wider difference was found when determining the field germinative ability which was equal to 160% on the fourth day of experiment (100% being adopted as the control) in the seeds treated with the proposed device, and amounted to 180% on the sixth day. The period from sowing to emergence of seedlings was three days in the treated seeds and eight days in thecontrol, and the period from sowing to the appearance of true leaflets was 15 and 23 days, respectively. At the beginning of budding the number of buds in o the plants was 3.1 and 1.6 in the treated and control ones, respectively.

Example 4 There were conducted at farm K. commercial tests for growing the following farm crops: pea~ maize for grain, barley, sunflower, and carrot. The optimum treatment frequencies were selected for crop under test, namely, barley, 15 Hz, pea, maize, and sunflower, 8 Hz, and carrot, 19 Hz. The treatment procedure lasted 10 min. No phenological observations were carried out. The results of two-stage harvesting demonstrated the following gain in crop yield compared with the control sowing: for pea, 600 kg/ha (19.3%), for maize, 800 kg/ha (21.4%), for barley, 750 kg/ha (19.1%), in sunflower, 520 kg/ha(23.0%), and for carrot, 250 kg/ha (18.0%).

Example S
There were conducted at farm M. commercial tests for presowing treatment of winter wheat seeds with the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention.
The treatment was performed at a frequency of 1~ Hz for 10 min. The control material was situated at a distance over 1.5 km from the seeds under treatment.
Both the control and treated seeds were sown the next day after treatment on the area of 10 ha and 500 ha, respectively.
An analysis of the root systems of the seedlings in the control and test plants showed a greater weight of those in the test plants. Harvesting of the control crops demonstrated the crop yield of 491 () kg/ha, that of the test crops, CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 5490 kg/ha, that is, the gain in crop yield as a result of presowing treatment of seeds was 580 kg/ha.

Example 6 There were conducted at farm M. commercial tests for presowing treatment of cotton seeds with the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention. The experimental lot of seeds was conveyed to a field-camp at a distance of 4 km, where the seeds were treated with the proposed device at a frequency of 19 Hz for 10 min. The seeds of o control and test lots were sown in the same day and on the same field occupying up to 50 ha of the control area.
The seedlings of the treated seeds emerged on the third day after sowing, whereas those of the control, on the eighth-ninth day.
There was performed evaluation of the plants on the control and experimental fields, the results being as follows: the control plants developed by the time 7-8 sympodial shoots on the average. whereas the test plants developed 12-12 shoots. Harvesting of the experimental field began two weeks earlier than that of the control field and gave a crop yield of 3800 kg/ha of cotton wool, whereas that of the control was 3300 kg/ha. The cotton fiber obtained from the experimental plants was longer, finer, and stronger for rupture than that of thecontrol plants, and displayed a pure white color.

Example 7 About 160 ton of bagged barley was subjected to presowing treatment.
300 bags were stacked and the contents were treated with a radiation at a presetfrequency of 10 Hz for 9 min. The next day the control material was sown on an area of 30 ha, while the treated material was sown in drills on an area of 740 ha with the seed embedding depth of 6-8 cm.
It has been found after a two-stage harvesting that the crop yielding capacity in the control and in the experiment is respectively 1960 kg/ha and 2150 kg/ha.
Thus, the gain in the yield capacity was 190 kg/ha.

- CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 Example 8 There was carried out at farm K. scientific-commercial testing of the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention.
A lot of spring wheat seeds packed in I S bags was subjected to treatment s at a frequency of 15 Hz for 10 min. The control material (20 bags) was transferred to a S-km distant field to be sown there. Once the test seeds had been treated, they were also transferred to the field for sowing. The sowing wascarried out on the same day, the treated seeds being sown on plots 3.8 ha in area, and the control ones, on plots 4.9 ha in area.
0 Observations were made during the vegetation period with respect to the following parameters: density of crop, morphological analysis of plants, and crop yield structure. No wide difference between the plant development phases was detected. However, the plants grown from the treated seeds were 102.5 cm tall, the weight of grains obtained from one plant was 1.16 g, and the weight of1000 grains was 41.4 g, whereas the corresponding figures for the plants grown on the control plots were as follows: 97.8 cm, 1.09 g, and 39.5 g. The crop yielding capacity on the plots sown with the treated seeds and on the control plots was 2510 kg/ha and 2080 kg/ha respectively, that is, the gain in the yieldcapacity was 430 kg/ha.
Example 9 There was carried out at farm K. commercial testing of the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention, for presowing treatment of soya and buckwheat seeds.
2s Soya seeds were placed on two drop-side trucks, whence the device was powered from the truck storage battery. The radiator 2 was arranged on the ground close to the trucks loaded with the seed material. The treatment was carried out at a frequency of 8 Hz for I S min. Used as the control were soya seeds sown simultaneously on an area of 100 ha. The treated seed material was sown on an area of 600 ha in the same field and on the same day.
The germinative energy of the treated soya seeds was 90% and the germinating capacity, 95~/o against 88% and 95%, respectively, in the control.
The sheaf material was selected and the plants were measured to give the following results: the plants grown from the treated seeds were 34.85 cm tall, CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 the control ones being 31.10 cm tall; the stalk diameter in the middle plant portion of the test plants was 3-S mm, that if the control plants, 3-4 mm.
Buckwheat seeds poured in a heap were treated for sowing on an area of S00 ha. The radiator 2 was spaced 2 or 3 m apart from the heap of the material under treatment. An optimum frequency was 19 Hz, the duration of treatment, 10 min. The control seeds were transferred to a S-km distant field. Both the control and test materials were sown on the 4th-Sth day on a prepared field, where the preceding crop was annual grass for hay followed by fall-ploughing.
The results of the field studies were as follows: height of plants grown lo from the treated seeds, 68.98 cm, that of the control plants, 57.78 cm; number of flower clusters per test plant, 7.67, that per control plant~ 6.16.
Laboratory analysis of the seeds demonstrated that the germinating capacity of the treated seeds was 97%, that of the control, 94%; growing power, 93% and 86%, respectively; percent of 3-cm long shoots in the test plants, S 79.7%, that in the control, 22.5%; percent of 2-cm long shoots in the test plants, 18.2%, that in the control, 46.2%; percent of I -cm long shoots in the test plants, 2.0%, that in the control, 29.2%; and percent of shoots less than I cm long in the test plants, 0.1 %, that in the control, 2.1 ~ 0.
It is beyond any doubt that the plants grown from treated seeds will provide the maximum producing capacity. However, the final commercial result will depend on timely and quality harvesting.

Example 10 There were carried out at farm R. field testing of results of presowing treatment of the seeds of pea, buckwheat, and millet with the proposed device carrying into effect the method, according to the invention.
A small lot of seeds (10 kg) was treated for S min using the proposed device, pea and millet seeds at an optimum frequency of 8 Hz, buckwheat seeds, at a frequency of 19 Hz. The control material was as distant as at least 600 m from the treated one. Both the control and test materials were sown simultaneously.
The studies performed have found activation of the growth processes in the initial period of plant development, i.e., the length of seedling rootlets and shoots in the experiment exceeds that in the control by 39.9%, the weight of 100 CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 seedlings in the experiment exceeds that of the control by 6.6%. The field germinating capacity of the treated seeds exceeds that of the control by 9-14%.
The obtained gain in yield capacity is up to 450 kg/ha (20.3%) for pea, 360-470 kg/ha (24.4-31.9%) for buckwheat, and 430 kg/ha (up to 10.9%) for millet.
Treatment of pea seeds makes it possible to reduce susceptibility of plants to affection in the bud-and-flower forming phase down to 26.7%. and in the picking maturity phase, to 39.3%. In addition, the treatment promotes a higher protein content (up to 1.62%) of the green mass and up to 1.92% in the seeds. However, treatment of the millet seeds with an electromagnetic field at 0 the aforementioned frequencies produce no perceptible effect on the degree of susceptibility of millet seeds to kernel smut.

Example l I
100 bags of potato were treated at farm O. at a frequency of 16 Hz for 15 min, 40 bags being the control.
Potatoes of both the treated and control lots were sown on areas of 10 and 5 Ha, respectively. The following crop yield was obtained: 2810 kg/ha in the control field and 4490 kg/ha in the experimental field.

Example 12 Yellow carrot seeds were treated at farm K. at a frequency of l 9 Hz for 5 min and sown thereafter on an area of 500 ha simultaneously with untreated seeds which were sown on a control field of 10 ha.
The harvested crop was 830 kg/ha in the control and 1286 kg/ha in the experiment. The potato tubers harvested from the experimental field differed from the control ones not only in larger size but also in a more even and regular shape.

Example 13 Tomato seeds were treated at farm R. at a frequency of 17 Hz for 5 min.
As a result of use of the proposed method for presowing treatment of seeds the potato yielding capacity in the experiment was 1103 kg/ha, whereas that in the control was as low as 615 kg/ha.

- - CA 0221949~ 1997-11-19 Stated hereinbefore was but part of the exemplary embodiments of the proposed method which, in our opinion, characterize the essence of said method adequately accurately and in great detail. However, we have conducted some further tests. Thus, for instance, treatment was carried out not only at s optimum frequencies specified in each of the examples stated, but also at other frequencies within the specified range. Though the crop yields were in this casesomewhat below those obtained with the use of optimum frequencies, they exceeded reliably the crop yields obtained with the use of untreated seed materials.
o Admittedly, treatment of seed material with low-frequency electromagnetic fields in the frequency range of from 8 to 19 Hz results in higher yielding capacity.
It must be kept in mind that treatment is to be performed not earlier than ten days before sowing, since otherwise the treatment efficiency is affected. Thus, according to the data obtained at farm K., a reliable differencein the number of flower clusters between the test and control buckwheat plants grown from the seeds sown within the first week after treatment is 24% (gain in crop yield - 26.5%), whereas that of the plants grown from the seeds sown in thesecond week (on the 9th-lOth day) is as low as 5~~o (gain in crop yield - about 1 0%).
And ultimately, it is expedient to select an optimum frequency value in every particular case, since it may vary in definite limits depending on the kind and grade of the seed material used. However, in any case the frequency range of from 8 to 19 Hz will be instrumental in attaining positive results.
2s Thus, the herein-proposed device carryin into effect the method, according to the invention, is intended for synthesizing different-shape low-frequency signals (shaped predominantly as square /meander/, saw-tooth, sinusoid), and combination thereof for radiating them in the surrounding medium when operating into an inductive (solenoid or some other means emitting a magnetic field) or capacitive load. The proposed device operates in conjunction with a software and an IBM or IBM-compatible computer.
Described hereinbefore have been some exemplary embodiments of the present invention illustrating the capabilities of the proposed method carried into effect by the device, according to the invention, and in which various - CA 0221949C~ 1997-11-19 alterations and modifications may be made, without departing from the scope of the appended claims, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Industrial Applicability The present invention can find application for treating seed material in growing not only grain crops, but also solanaceous, oleaginous, leguminous, melon-field, and root crops. In a variant of the proposed device for research work provision of an appropriate software makes it possible to produce signals 0 of any geometrical shape in the frequency range of from l to 50 Hz and an off-duty factor of from 0.001 to l000, and a nonlinear distortion factor of an electric signal within 0.01 and 0.001% at the output connector with an active load of 8 Ohm and a signal discreteness of 10-4. The device can be manufactured on industrial scale for presowing treatment of seeds according to 15 groups of related enzymes, that is, for grain, leguminous, tuber crops, and vegetable seeds.

Claims (13)

1. A method for presowing treatment of seed material, consisting in exposing the material under treatment to the effect of a low-frequency electromagnetic field, CHARACTERIZED in that use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field having a frequency corresponding to the resonance frequency of intraglobular transformations (rearrangements) in the material under treatment due to the effect of conforming oscillations.
2. A method as set forth in claim 1 CHARACTERIZED in that use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field having an energy level below the energy of rupture of hydrogen bonds in the material under treatment.
3. A method as set forth in claim 1 or claim 2, CHARACTERIZED in that use is made of a low-frequency electromagnetic field having a frequency of from 8 to 19 Hz.
4. A method as set forth in claim 1 or claim 2, CHARACTERIZED in that treatment of seed material is carried out not later than 10 days before sowing.
5. A method as set forth in claim 3, CHARACTERIZED in that treatment of seed material is carried out not later than 10 days before sowing.
6. A device for presowing treatment of seed material, comprising a source (1) of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations, and a radiator (2) electrically connected to the source (1) and emitting an electromagnetic radiation directed to the material under treatment, CHARACTERIZED in that the source (1) of electromagnetic oscillations is adjustable for radiation frequency within a range of from 8 to 19 Hz. as well as for shape of the radiated signal so as to suit the intraglobular transformations occurring in the seed material under treatment.
7. A device as set forth in claim 6, CHARACTERIZED in that the source (1) of electromagnetic oscillations is also adjustable for radiation power.
8. A device as set forth in claim 6, CHARACTERIZED in that provision is therein made for a means (3) for control over operation of the adjustable source (1) of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations, the output of the means (3) being electrically connected to the adjustable source (1).
9. A device as set forth in claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that the source (1) of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations comprises also a means (7) for shaping the radiated signal as to frequency and form, said means being electrically connected to the output of the control means (3) and to the radiator (2).
10. A device as set forth in claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that the source (1) of low-frequency electromagnetic oscillations comprises also a means (8) for adjusting the radiation time and power, electrically connected to the output of the control means (3) and to the radiator (2).
11. A device as set forth in claim 8, CHARACTERIZED in that provision is therein made for a computer (5) having its output connected to the input of the control means (3).
12. A device as set forth in claim 9 or claim I 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the means (7) for shaping the radiated signal as to frequency and form comprises a standard-frequency oscillator (9) having a first output (10) and a second output (11), a synthesizer (12) of the radiated signal phase count havinga first input (13) and a second input (14) and an output, said first input (13) of said synthesizer (12) being connected to the first input (10) of said standard-signal oscillator (9), while said second input (14) thereof is connected to the output of the control means (3), and a radiated signal shape synthesizer (15) having a first input (16), a second input (17), a third input (18), and an output, said first input (16) of said shape synthesizer (15) being connected to the second output (11) of said standard-signal oscillator (9), while said second input (17)thereof is connected to the output of the synthesizer (12) of the radiated signal phase count, and the third input (18) of said shape synthesizer (15) is connected to the output of the control means (3), and the output thereof is connected to the radiator (2).
13. A device as set forth in claim 10 or claim 11, CHARACTERIZED in that the means (8) for adjusting the radiation time and power comprises a timer (20) having its input connected to the output of the control means (3), and an adjustable power amplifier (21) having a first input (22) and a second input (23), and an output, said first input (22) being connected to the output (24) of the timer (20), said second input, to the output of the radiated signal shape synthesizer (15) of the means (7) for shaping the radiated signal, while the output of said power amplifier (21) is connected to the radiator (2).
CA002219495A 1995-05-09 1995-05-19 Method and device for presowing treatment of seed material Abandoned CA2219495A1 (en)

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9078393B1 (en) 2012-03-13 2015-07-14 Activation Technologies, LLC Activated-release fertilizer, pesticides, and other granules, germination-activated seeds, and methods of making and using same
CN112273038A (en) * 2020-10-21 2021-01-29 塔里木大学 Cotton planting method for promoting seedling and strengthening seedling

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9078393B1 (en) 2012-03-13 2015-07-14 Activation Technologies, LLC Activated-release fertilizer, pesticides, and other granules, germination-activated seeds, and methods of making and using same
CN112273038A (en) * 2020-10-21 2021-01-29 塔里木大学 Cotton planting method for promoting seedling and strengthening seedling
CN112273038B (en) * 2020-10-21 2022-10-11 塔里木大学 Cotton planting method for promoting seedling and strengthening seedling

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