The pericarp of monogerm sugar beet seed is rubbed off during processing in order to produce uniformly sized seeds ready for pelleting. This process can lead to mechanical damage, which may cause quality deterioration of the processed seeds. Identification of the mechanical damage and classification of the severity of the injury is important and currently time consuming, as visual inspections by trained analysts are used. This study aimed to find alternative seed quality assessment methods by evaluating a machine vision technique for the classification of five damage types in monogerm sugar beet seeds. Multispectral imaging (MSI) was employed using the VideometerLab3 instrument and instrument software. Statistical analysis of MSI-derived data produced a model, which had an average of 82% accuracy in classification of 200 seeds in the five damage classes. The first class contained seeds with the potential to produce good seedlings and the model was designed to put more limitations on seeds to be classified in this group. The classification accuracy of class one to five was 59, 100, 77, 77 and 89%, respectively. Based on the results we conclude that MSI-based classification of mechanical damage in sugar beet seeds is a potential tool for future seed quality assessment.

Endogenous inhibitors have a crucial effect on the success of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) seed germination. The strength of this effect changes during seed maturation, and washing away these inhibitors can facilitate germination. Investigation of various washing factors such as water-to-seed ratio, stirring time, and speed of stirring on a mixed-maturity lot of sugar beet seeds revealed the significant effect of the interaction of all factors. Seeds with different maturity classes, from the same lot, were washed using procedures determined from the first experiment. Statistical analysis of the germination data of the washed seeds showed a significant difference in mean germination time depending on maturity class. Washing seeds of different maturity classes with 40 mL of water per gram of seed improved the germination performance of maturity classes 2 and 5, compared with 20 mL water per gram of seed. The UV absorbance of inhibitors washed from seeds differed between maturity classes. The change in seed moisture content during the washing process is another factor altered by the extent of seed development, and this variation in water uptake may reflect the pericarp structure of seed in different maturity classes. The findings in this manuscript highlight the importance of optimizing the pre-treatment procedures in accordance with the individual seed lot.

Beta vulgaris comprise various variety groups that are cultivated for vegetative or reproductive production. As a biennial crop, beets have a photothermal induction requirement for the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive stage. Bolting and flowering are not desirable when beets are cultivated for vegetative production and are suppressed during breeding programs, though these structures are important in seed production. Therefore, the potential of seed hydro priming as an enhancement technique to partially induce vernalization in seeds was evaluated. Following hydro priming, seeds were sown in October 2018 and evaluated during three selected phenological stages. Treating seeds with hydro priming significantly improved the emergence rate in all four tested cultivars. Moreover, treatments significantly lowered the required growing degree days (GDD) for transition to the reproductive stage in all four tested cultivars. Regardless of the treatment effect on an individual developmental stage, the treatment efficiency should be evaluated on the whole production process, depending on the purpose of production. The focus of this study was mainly on improvement of seed production performance. The outcome showed the potential of priming to influence the reproductive stages of the plant life cycle rather than just the germination.

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