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Investors and corporate decision
makers are bombarded with many product and process ideas that are
described as a sure thing…the next iPod. The idea only needs some
backing, and it will make millions of dollars. Most new product or
process ideas do not pay off, and picking that one winning idea,
before it’s a winner, can be difficult.
Many ideas, few successes
Odds of a “sure bet” idea actually living up to it’s hype can be 1
out of 100, with some putting the odds as high as 1 in a 1000. It
takes skill, with some luck I think, to sift through the 100 product
and process ideas and pick the one idea that will be successful. It
took Chester Carlson 8 years to find someone interested in investing
in his invention…the copying machine. Even IBM and the U.S. Army
Signal Corps didn’t think the copying machine was an idea that would
take off. What seems like a “no brainer” now, wasn’t such a clear
choice at the time the invention was presented. New ideas, new
inventions, and new approaches seem odd to those that are used to
doing things in a certain way. Yes, even new approaches in the Seed
Industry can seem odd, but those odd ideas, may be tomorrow’s
breakthrough technologies. Here’re a couple of older unconventional
techniques that have come across my desk over the years.
The Seed that Bounces the Highest is the best
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Contrary to what the cartoon
suggests, separating seed by its bounce was a serious idea developed
in an Israeli business incubator about 10 years ago. The process is
based on the principal of seed elasticity. The creators claim that
seed with the most elasticity is the most likely to germinate
properly with the highest vigor. The seed with the most elasticity,
bounces the highest. Their product was a machine that separated the
seed according to how high it would bounce. The machine was intended
to be used in conjunction with conventional seed cleaning separation
techniques.
Smoking Out Seed Dormancy
It’s been known for several years that fire and smoke can break
dormancy in certain types of seed in the wild. People have tried
storing seed in smoke filled containers before planting in order to
break dormancy, but the methods were tedious at best. A company out
of Australia decided to sell smoke in the form of smoke impregnated
absorbent paper. The absorbent paper is impregnated with
smoke-saturated water and then dried. The active compounds in the
smoke remained on the paper and were said to remain potent for at
least 6 months if stored in sealed polyethylene bags in the
refrigerator. A day before you’re ready to plant, add water to the
smoke-saturated germination paper and let the seed imbibe the liquid
from the paper for 24 hours. Dormancy is said to be broken after the
24 hour period and the seed will germinate normally when planted in
the soil or greenhouse tray.
Here’s a couple of technologies
that people are currently talking about.
Seed Separation by Chlorophyll Fluorescence
Harvesting seed that is totally and uniformly mature is rare. Seed
within a lot that has not reached full maturity will most likely be
less vigorous or not able to germinate at all. Many times these
fully developed, but not quite mature seeds are impossible to
separate using normal density, size or shape separations.
Chlorophyll fluorescence measures the amount of green chlorophyll
present in each seed. The more chlorophyll the seed has, the more
immature and less vigorous the seed. Commercial separation would
occur much like a normal color sorter (see SeedTech article 12)
(http://www.harrismoran.com/technology/newsletters/12.htm ), with
the seed individually passing through a chlorophyll sensing beam of
light. When the seed chlorophyll levels are too high, a burst of air
would separate the immature seed from the rest. This process is not
commercialized at this time, but prototypes are currently being
developed.
Near-Infrared (NIR) Separations
This technology is currently available to the seed industry, but new
uses continue to be explored. Near-Infrared light shoots through the
seed and gives off a signal that is linked to the internal
components of the seed, which are related to seed vigor and
germination. So…you can separate low vigor and dead seed according
to the type of NIR signal that is given off. In addition to that,
seed that is contaminated with fungal pathogens will give off a
unique NIR signal and can be used to separate seed with fungal
contamination. NIR signals have also been used to separate hybrid
watermelon seed from inbred seed, and as a method to determine the
length of time needed to prime seed for optimal results. (see
SeedTech article 4).
That’s it for now.
See you next time when we discuss “Organic seed and seed
treatments... A new challenge “
Keith
k.kubik@harrismoran.com |
