Methods of dry storage of grass seeds to maintain vitality

Grass species

Grass species refer to the seeds, fruits, roots, stems, seedlings, leaves, buds and other planting materials or reproductive materials of herbs and forage shrubs used for animal breeding, ecological construction, greening and beautification.

Grass seed drying is of great significance to prolong the life of grass seed. The purpose of seed drying is to maintain the vigor, vigor and original genetic characteristics of dried seeds stored in a low-temperature seed bank for a long time. Seed water content is more important than storage temperature, even if there is no cold storage condition, moderate drying can greatly prolong the storage life of seeds. There are several methods of seed drying:

The main results are as follows: 1. Natural drying of seeds: the use of natural conditions such as sunlight and wind, or a little artificial conditions, to reduce the water content of seeds and reach or approach the standard for safe storage of seeds. Natural drying can not only reduce energy consumption, accelerate seed precipitation, but also reduce seed processing costs. However, the drying time of this drying method is longer, which is affected by external atmospheric humidity, temperature, wind speed and other factors.

2. Mechanical drying of seeds: for newly harvested seeds with higher moisture content, when the weather is overcast and rainy or there is no hot air drying machine, a fan can be used to blow the cool and dry air into the seed pile, so as to continuously blow away water vapor and heat. The purpose of drying and cooling the seeds. Ventilation drying uses external air as drying medium, and the degree of seed water loss is affected by the relative humidity of external air. This drying method is relatively simple and can be ventilated and dried as long as there is a blower.

3. Heating drying method: it is a method that uses heated air as drying medium to directly pass through the seed layer to vaporize the seed moisture and thus dry the seeds. In warm and humid tropical and subtropical regions, especially large-scale seed production units or long-term stored seeds, heating and drying methods should be used.

4. Desiccant drying: it is a drying method in which the seed desiccant is sealed in an airtight container according to a certain proportion, and the moisture diffused by the grass seed is continuously absorbed by the desiccant to make the seed dry until the balance of moisture is reached. The desiccants mainly include lithium chloride, discolored silica gel, quicklime, calcium chloride, phosphorus pentoxide and so on. Desiccant drying is relatively safe, can control drying moisture, suitable for a small number of seed drying.

5. Freeze drying: it is a method for seeds to freeze below freezing point to remove moisture by biochemical action to achieve the purpose of drying. This method can selectively remove free water and multi-layer bound water without heating, leaving single-layer bound water, which can significantly reduce the drying damage of seeds and increase the storability of seeds. According to the International Committee on Plant Genetics, the "double 15" drying method is the safest and most reliable method to dry seeds under the condition of 15 ℃ temperature and 15% humidity. This method is widely used in seed bank seed drying, can dry seeds in batches, does little harm to grass seed drying, and can achieve the purpose of safe drying.