Plant husbandry – Coated or impregnated seed – method or apparatus
Patent
1986-02-11
1988-07-26
Bagwill, Robert E.
Plant husbandry
Coated or impregnated seed, method or apparatus
47DIG9, A01C 106
Patent
active
047591510
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to seed pellets each containing at least one grain of seed and an organic substrate.
In Swiss patent specification No. 561 021 there was revealed a seed preparation (compound) produced by mixing 20 kg of poor-grade grass, so-called mulch, and 1 kg of crude cellulose flakes, and drying the mixture at a temperature of about 140.degree. C. until the residual water content is only 15% by weight. The following substances are then added to this premixture, the percentages given representing % by weight, relative to the dried grass.
This mixture can be compressed to moulded bodies, so-called pellets wherein the sodium alginate and polyacrylic amide act as binding agents.
According to Swiss patent specification No. 561 021 such pellets are provided with grass seeds and, in practice, with clover seed (leguminosa) too. These pellets, however, are not suitable for seeds which require relatively much water, and/or are sown in extremely dry areas, such as the seed of dry rice and of many other cultivated plants or forest seeds. The dried grass, of which the percentage by weight in the pellets is of the order of 90%, can give off only about one-third of this water content of about 15% by weight which exists therein, i.e., only about 5% of the weight of the dried grass. Furthermore, the pellets known lose relatively much water to the environment in a dry environment. A further disadvantage of the seed pellets according to Swiss patent specification No. 561 021 resides in the fact that the dried grass particles, seeds and other pellet constituents pressed to form pellets are held together only relatively loosely so that they break readily during transport and on sowing, and lose material through abrasion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide seed pellets which eliminate the disadvantages of the known seed pellets. The pellets are to be suitable particularly for applications where the seeds in the pellets require much water and/or where the pellets are to be sown in a relatively dry environment. Furthermore, the seed pellets are preferably to have high breaking strength and high resistance to abrasion.
This object is achieved by means of seed pellets of the aforedescribed type which are characterized according to the invention by containing loess. This object, moreover, is achieved by means of seed pellets characterized according to the invention in that they have a core containing at least the aforedescribed constituents and a semipermeable coat enclosing said core. Advantageous embodiments of the seed pellets are indicated in the relevant dependent claims relating to the seed pellets.
The invention, furthermore, relates to a method of producing seed pellets wherein seed pellets are formed from at least one seed and an organic substrate. The method according to the invention is characterized in that the organic substrate is mixed with loess before the seed pellets are pressed. The invention relates furthermore to a method of the aforedescribed type which is characterized according to the invention in that the cores formed of at least the aforementioned constituents, are covered by a semipermeable coat.
The organic substrate may be produced of non-woody plant material, advantageously also containing water, but being just dry enough to be ground well and/or crushed mechanically in some other manner, and then be mixed well in the form of particulate material with the seeds, loess and other desirable constituents, and finally agglomerated to agglomerated particles. The organic substrate may be formed, for example, of dried grass, straw and/or algae and/or leaf material. These raw plant materials are dried, in a drying device, unless they have already been sufficiently dried by natural drying processes, said drying device comprising for example a drying tower, in which hot air is passed through the plant material to be dried. The material for the organic substrate may be heated during the drying process or possibly in a separate sterilizing proc
REFERENCES:
patent: 3690034 (1972-09-01), Knapp
patent: 3698133 (1972-10-01), Schreiber
patent: 4272417 (1981-06-01), Barke et al.
patent: 4344979 (1982-08-01), Gago et al.
Bagwill Robert E.
Sechoir la Courtine S.A.
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