Seeds harvesting

Fig. 30-4. Open burning of a field after a grass seed harvest.

It is essential to collect sales figures and the associated costs by the day/week/month, and to separate the figures for the different products. It is also essential to distinguish between fixed and variable costs. As we have seen (Chapter 8), the latter include costs such as field preparation, seed, harvesting and packaging. Fixed, or overhead, costs include loan repayments, property taxes, insurance, depreciation and maintenance on buildings and equipment. It is important to include the farmer s salary as a fixed cost, as well as marketing costs, deliveries, fuel, and vehicle upkeep. 

The biofuel yield of different crops is differs, but a more correct analysis also requires consideration of the (fossil) energy inputs needed to seed, harvest, and process the crops, etc. Clearly, the results depend significantly on regional and technology details, but an overall comparison of net energy yield factors is given in Fig. 1. 

Grasso, D.A., Sledge, M.F., Le Moli, F. Mori, A. and Turillazzi, S. (2005). Nest-area marking with faeces a chemical signature that allows colony-level recognition in seed harvesting ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Insect Soc., 52, 36-44. 

The seeds of the inoculated and control plants were subjected to HPLC Analysis for the Silymarin contents and the seeds from the inoculated plants were found to have silymarin contents 1.88 % while the control seeds were having 1.77 %. There is a marginal increase in the silymarin contents as a result of inoculation. The weight of 1000 seeds from inoculated plants was higher by 14.25% to than the control plants and the amount of the seeds harvested... 

Grunwald, C. and A.G. Endress. 1984. Fatty acids of soybean seeds harvested from plants exposed to air pollutants.. Agr. Chem. 32 50-53. 

Ortiz, C. S.R. de Cianzio P.R. Hepperly. Fungi and insect damage to soybean seeds harvested at immature stages in tropical environments. /. Agric. Univ Puerto Rico 1988, 72, 73-79. 

Two samples of papaya oil extracted from dried papaya seed harvested in Somalia yielded 25-26% of an orange-yellow colored liquid with a smell of cress. The composition of fatty acid was similar to other reported values. The relatively high polyphenol content (2.5% in seed oil) gives the seed oil excellent stability to oxidation. The phosphatides are low while the carotenoids are significant (lOmg/lOOg). Unlike the majority of vegetable oils, the terpenic alcohols constituted the most abundant fraction found in the unsaponifiable fraction (Strocchi et al., 1977). 

It is clear that with a combination of good seed harvesting and storage practices and hygiene, coupled with the processing advances discussed above, aflatoxin contamination of pesticidal extracts and ingredients need no longer be seen as a barrier to the full exploitation of neem. 

Fanelli, C., Fabbri, A.A., and Passi, S. (1981). Aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus (fungi on wheat seeds harvested in silos) during incubation with lipid sources in culture media. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc., 77, 416-419. 

---