Nayden Naydenov1, Stoyan Ishpekov1 and Rangel Zaykov2
1 Agricultural University, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
1 Agricultural Academy, Institute of Plant Genetic Resources “Konstantin Malkov”, 2140 Sadovo, Bulgaria
Naydenov, N., Ishpekov, S. & Zaykov, R. (2020). Investigation of seed losses at mechanized harvesting of sesame. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 26 (6), 1323–1327
The losses of sesame seeds of Bulgarian varieties Aida and Nevena by the Wintersteiger – Hege 160, by the specialized device for feeding sesame stems in harvesting machine and by the wind has been investigated. The results testify that the percentage of losses by the specialized device is 1.7 to 4 times smaller than by the header of grain harvester for both varieties. The wind, with a speed of up to 10.3 m/s for two days during the sesame maturation, scatters from 14.1% to 22.5% of the seeds depending on the variety and its moisture content. When the sesame is harvested after a wind at mentioned speed then a decrease in the percentage of seed losses is registered. It is twice for the specialized device and from 5 to 7 times for Hege 160.