Kulyk V. Influence of drying and processing methods on corn hybrids seed quality

The research objects were drying processes, temperature and ventilation regime of dryer chambers, cob threshing, seed separation, sowing and yield properties of maize hybrids and their parent components, energy saving. The research purpose was to establish the influence of different methods of post-harvest processing and drying on the seed quality of maize hybrids, and identify the energy saving methods. Research methods were as follows: laboratory method was to study the grain moisture, germination energy and seed germination, heat and mechanical damage; field method – seed germination dynamics, indicators of plant growth and development, grain yield; statistical and mathematical analysis; experimental and production research; calculation of economic efficiency. Results: recommend for the obtaining of high quality seeds of maize hybrids and self-pollinated lines, and the reducing the cost of their post-harvest processing to the experiment stations for maize seed production and farms of all forms of ownership a new method of energy saving drying with optimal temperature and ventilation regime depending on biomass burning (maize cobs); energy saving system, which consists of SKP (СКП) typical maize dryer and TPG (ТПГ) heat generator, and technical and technological regulations for the system operation; optimal methods of post-harvest processing, including the mode of threshing with a controlled number of revolutions of the threshing drum (not more than 600 per minute) and the sorting and calibration process with the selection of larger fractions. Novelty is regularities of wet cobs drying on the basis of heat balance and heat transfer calculation of different types of fuel for maize dryers of chamber type; technical and technological indicators of energy-saving drying (temperature, relative humidity, volume of the heat carrier) depending on harvest moisture content of seeds, biological features of hybrids and self-pollinated lines of maize; the influence of different drying methods on thermal grain damage, sowing and yield properties of seeds of maize hybrids and their parent components; aftereffect of energy-saving drying with optimization of cob threshing and seed separation processes. Field: agricultural science.