Influence of the Presence of Weeds and Other Impurities in Natural Alfalfa Seed on Finishing Machines Work and Seed Quality During Three Years

The paper presents the results of three - year tests (I, II, III) of finishing alfalfa seed of three different purities. Natural alfalfa seeds were classified into three groups: 1) without the presence of quarantine weeds; 2) with the presence of quarantine weeds of Cuscuta spp. and Rumex spp., but in smaller quantities; 3) in which there were also quarantine weeds in larger quantities. The alfalfa seeds were cleaned on a selector with sieves and on a magnetic separator manufactured by Emceka-Gompper. Depending on the purity of natural alfalfa seed, the finishing process had to take place in one to three passes through a system of machines, which caused different finishing output and losses of finishing processed alfalfa seed (9.2 to 38.0%). After finishing, the highest quality of processed seeds was from the group with the highest quarantine weeds (group 3), which was reflected in the lowest percentage of hard seeds (16%) and the highest percentage of germination (83%) in all years. This is also shown by a highly significant negative correlation between germination and hard seed (r=-430) after three years of seed processing.