Thursday 7 August 2014

Use of Seed Germinators to determine Seed Germination parameters

The sole purpose of seed germination testing is to test the nature of the seedlings. How will the seeds do in the field? Most of the farmers face this query on a regular basis. But, now with simple and easy methods your seeds can be tested before their sowing, labeling and selling process, so that you can take maximum advantage and price from the sale.

The seeds, which you are planning to sow, are tested in laboratories to check the purity and reliability of a seed sample. During the lab tests, a sample of 300-400 seeds of every lot is taken. The seeds are usually put in Seed Germinators which imitate moist conditions in an environment where 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperature is maintained for about a week. The seeds are given ideal planting conditions to grow. At the end of the week, the seeds are termed under various categories such as- normal, abnormal or diseased, and dead or hard seeds. A wide range of Seed Germinators are available with very advanced features like temperature, humidity, illumination control. They are available in various capacities and chambers to assist in evaluation germination parameters of seeds in laboratories.

In the Germination tests, the moisture and aeration, temperature and light conditions are especially taken care of. The hard-coated seeds are also given some special treatments to improve their germination quality. Before planting processes the seeds in the lab are also disinfected to reduce the hassles of bacteria and fungi.
During the Germination tests, the physical purity of the seeds have to be checked to determine and analyze the quality of the seeds. It is done to check that if the considerate sample of seeds is fit for the lab testing. The seeds should confirm to the prescribed seed quality standards. After the seed physical purity test, the seeds are categorized in the pure seeds, other crop seeds, weed seeds, and the determination of husk less seeds is also done. There should be no inert matter to be found in the sample seeds; otherwise, they are considered the bad seeds.

The germination process is only possible with the pure seeds samples. A minimum quantity of 400 seeds is taken and the germination tests are done with the 4 lots of 100 seeds each or 8 lots of 50 seeds each.
Lastly, the evaluation process of the lab germination is done on the basis of Normal seedlings category, Abnormal seedling category, Hard seeds, Fresh and ungerminated seeds and Dead seeds. The best seedlings which are considered are the normal seedlings. Even if the germinated seeds which have slight defects and no damage to the growing tissue are also considered as the normal seeds.


The normal seedlings are the ones which show the capacity to grow perfectly with green leaves and axis shoot growth. Abnormal seedlings do not show the capacity to ever grow if proper growing conditions are provided to them. Hard seeds are the ones which do not absorb moisture or water till the end of the tests and remain ungerminated. Fresh and ungerminated seeds are the ones which do not grow at all and can be reused for the germination process. Dead seeds are the ones which completely collapse and if pressed hardly at the end of the test, a milky paste is oozed out from them. 


Grain Inspection and Grading

What is the value of your grains, the quality and quantity of the grains produced? All grain procuring /testing agencies mark the lots of your grains according to the set standard quality. It is a fool proof process to ensure that the buyers and sellers both are in profits.
Every year, many of the grains samples are sent by farmers and grain retailers to get the quality-grading certificate from the department. The owners of the discarded grain samples are also given tips on how to improve the quality and quantity of their lots. Grain inspection services are available to inspect the grain quality in the best manner. Laboratories of the inspection offices are equipped with modern technology with well-qualified and experienced inspection officers.
Grain Inspection and Grading is mainly done before the imports and exports for the maximum benefits of everyone. There are many private food grain inspecting companies which make sure that with the right tools and grading that how much is the selling or cost price of those specific grains. The process involved is huge and not at all cost-friendly as it requires huge budget to get the gradings done but to get the genuine rates out of the bulk grains, this system is required.
This promotion of agricultural standardization is an important aspect of ensuring the good quality of food grains and to provide best to everyone. The samples of the grains have to be taken as grading and inspecting in bulk is not at all possible. There are many parameters on which the quality of the sample of the grains is determined proficiently. Namely:
  • The color, appearance and wholesomeness of the seeds.
  • Damaged grains should not be considered.
  • Perfect moisture content
  • Broken and damaged grains should be opted out
  • The foreign unwanted matter is unacceptable in the sample lot.
The foreign matter like husk, straw, weed, chaff is not at all acceptable in the grain lot. The lot should not include mixed types of grains like the sampling is of wheat but it accompanies pulses or rice seeds along with it. The cereals should not be damaged even slightly and broken which affects the quality of these grains. These steps are to make sure that the buyer buys the best and the consumer also consumes the best.
While determining the grading process, the inspectors who are on inspection make sure the safety measures of the determining lot. Like the grains should be pesticide free and not come in any chemical contact. The poisonous heavy metals should also be kept away from the grains. Special attention should be given that if the grains are in contact of the uric acid or microbial waste.

The grading system ensures that the agricultural businesses should not  suffer of the genuine price they deserve. One more benefit which the farmer has is that having his grains graded and given the position of the best quality to their grains will also provide easy loans to them from banks. The process of middlemen is also eliminated through the grading processes which usually leads to the deceit to the farmer's genuine grain product prices. A wide range of Grain Inspection and Grading equipments like Illuminated Purity Workboard, Stereo Microscope, Seed Caliper, Seed Dividers, Sampling probes, Bag Triers,  Enamel plates, brass sieves , etc are available .


Role and Application of Digital Moisture Meter in Foodgrain Procurement

Role of Digital Moisture Meters in Foodgrain Procurement
Usually in food grain business , the farmer expects a higher price for his grains at the time of selling and do not wish to be cheated by the procurers while on the other hand  the procurers or purchasing agencies would not like to pay for poor quality grains with higher moisture content which would result in losses during milling & warehousing subsequently .Therefore the need to check the moisture content of their grains accurately becomes more than necessary. The procurement agencies as well as farmers need to know the correct moisture content for the cereals like wheat, rice, barley etc which is later on essential for the drying process of these grains. The lesser the moisture in grains, more will be the drying quality of them in the later processes.  
For yielding more of your farming results detecting the right quality grains is the key factor and for that you have to know how much moisture the grains have. The maximum optimization and utilization of your farm's yields depends just upon your choice of moisture testers.
A wide range of Digital Moisture Meter is available now a day is which can be used depending upon the application and crops whose moisture content is to be measured. Digital Moisture Meters always show the accurate and repeatable results to help you in increasing your profitability. The quality results helps in generating a near to perfect review about your yields. They come in various types - Cost intensive, Field Grain Moisture Testers or Lab Moisture Meters. For applications that require the procurer to move to the mandi/grain market or farm, light weight instruments should be chosen which are easy to carry and give accurate and reliable results. These kind of Grain Moisture Testers are available in various models with many additional features to suit various needs and for applications like Food grain processing , Milling and Warehousing that require more accuracy and reliability, Lab Moisture Meters should be used which comes with features like computer interfacing and printing facility .
Correct sampling of food grains using the scientific techniques, Grain Inspection and Grading instruments like Sampling Probes, Triers , Seed Dividers, etc before moisture content measurement using a Digital Moisture Meter  plays an important role along with correct choice of Digital Moisture Meter depending upon the application and the crop.

Digital Moisture Meters assist you to detect the right amount of moisture this further helps the farmers to sell his yield to gain maximized profits out of his sale. Moisture detection plays a key role in your profit hiking. All this can only be achieved by choosing the right instrument according to your needs. Check our complete range of Digital Moisture Meters, Grain Moisture Tester and Lab Moisture Meters to choose the right one for your application.