Effects of Harvest Methods on Seed Yield and Qualities of Lopburi 84-1 Soybean

Abstract

The labor shortage of soybean harvesting has greatly affected soybean seeds production, and the use of machinery to replace labor can reduce the problem. The study of the effect of harvesting method using combine harvester on seed quality of Lopburi 84-1 soybean was conducted and compared the seed quality according to standard of seed with labor harvesting followed by using a thresher. Threshing speed of combine harvester was set at 395 (12.83 m.s-1) and 330 (10.72 m.s-1) rpm while the speed of 400 rpm (11.73 m.s-1) was set for the thresher using in manual harvest method. Results showed that manual labor could harvest more efficiently at a lower first pod stage than a combine harvester. The loss from the use of the thresher was 2.39 %, while the combine harvester was 14.64 % (395 rpm) and 16.98 % (330 rpm) respectively. Quality and yield obtained from the labor harvesting were higher than those from thresher with less seed moisture. The percentage of humidity after harvesting, germination percentage were not statistically difference. In terms of seed quality after harvest, it was found that there was difference in percentage of seed purity between thresher and combine harvester while germination after 6 months of storage was not statistically different and was within germination standard of not less than 75%.