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  • China:Sesame can also be harvested by machine

    Oct 15th, 2024

    In the autumn breeze, in a sesame field of more than 200 mu in Songzhuang Village, Jialing Town, Xiangcheng City, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, sesame stalks were rolled into the harvester and spit out white sesame grains. Farmer Song Fuli, squatting on the field, said in surprise: "I never thought that sesame could be harvested by a large machine like wheat."   "In the past, when sesame seeds matured, the capsules would open and explode when touched, and the sesame seeds would fall to the ground. We would carefully hold the sesame stalks with one hand and cut them with a sickle with the other hand. We would then tie them into bundles and put them on sheets to dry. When they were completely dry, we would pat out the sesame seeds." Song Fuli, who has grown sesame seeds for many years, said, "One person could only harvest half an acre of sesame seeds a day." Now, a medium-sized harvester can harvest more than 100 mu a day, and a large harvester can harvest more than 150 mu a day. But why don't the sesame seeds fall off when such a large machine hits the sesame stalks?   Gao Shuguang, an associate researcher at the Zhoukou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, took the reporter to the field to investigate. He patted a mature sesame plant and found that no sesame seeds had fallen out. He broke off a sesame capsule and said, "Look, the sesame capsule has opened and the sesame seeds are exposed. Look carefully at the outermost sesame seeds, they are tightly held and stuck in the opening of the sesame capsule, so the sesame seeds will not fall out easily."   Gao Shuguang squeezed the sesame capsule with a little force, and the sesame seeds fell out. "This is a new variety bred by the Sesame Research Center of the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences - Yuzhi ND837. It has the characteristics of resistance to capsule cracking and suitable for mechanical harvesting, which solves the problem of poor resistance to sesame seed falling and low degree of mechanized production." Gao Shuguang said, "This variety can wait until the sesame seeds are fully mature before harvesting, which is a few days longer than manual harvesting, increasing the yield."   Zhang Haiyang, chief scientist of the National Special Oilseed Industry Technology System and director of the Sesame Research Center of the Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, led a team to develop this variety in 2007. In 2021, it passed the Henan Province Sesame New Variety Appraisal and obtained the protection of the new plant variety rights. After that, it began to be promoted nationwide. At present, the planting area of the new sesame variety suitable for mechanized harvesting exceeds 1.5 million mu, accounting for more than 20% of the country.   "This variety was bred using conventional hybrid breeding technology and is my country's first sesame variety that is resistant to capsule cracking and suitable for machine harvesting. It has strong adaptability and is suitable for planting in some production areas in Northwest China, North China, Huanghuai, and Jianghuai," said Zhang Haiyang.   Song Yongquan, a farmer of the 200-mu sesame field, said that the labor cost of harvesting sesame was about 400 yuan per mu before, but now it costs 80 yuan per mu for machine harvesting. The yield of this variety is more than 200 kilograms per mu, and the loss rate of machine harvesting is about 3%, which is lower than manual harvesting.   "An ordinary grain harvester can be used for mechanical harvesting by replacing a harvesting platform. It is very convenient. We plan to expand the sesame planting by another 100 acres next year." Song Yongquan said.


    Source: http://www.news.cn/20241015/26200c8963ac4fa7855e6c7c78d57486/c.html
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