Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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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.
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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
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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
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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):
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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-
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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
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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,
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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
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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,
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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.
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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
16
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
18
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
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.
