Radiographic method for assessing the quality of sugar beet seeds

Currently, sugar beet is the main source of sugar in the Russian Federation. The use in modern production of intensive technologies for the cultivation of sugar beets, the main requirement of which is sowing seeds to the final density, entails the improvement and development of methods for pre-sowing preparation of seed material with high sowing qualities - laboratory germination not lower than 90-95%, single germination - 97-99 %, high germination energy and resistance to pathogens. Therefore, the problem of improving the quality of seeds is one of the most important tasks of crop production. The traditional assessment of the sowing qualities of selected seed samples is carried out according to standard methods in laboratory conditions, and further studies of this material become impossible. An alternative method for studying the qualitative characteristics of seeds is the non-destructive method of microfocus X-ray, which makes it possible to identify various anomalies in seed development and to study the relationship between the features of hidden structural defects of seeds and their biological properties. The uniqueness of the method lies in the fact that the biological and economic significance of defects and developmental anomalies can be identified from X-ray images of captured seeds with subsequent study and comparison with the results of plant growth and development. The purpose of the performed studies was the development of a promising X-ray technique for assessing the quality of sugar beet seeds. As a result of many years of joint research of the employees of the «Russian Scientific research institute of sugar beet and sugar» and Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI", X-ray signs were determined, which made it possible to assess their viability by the image of seeds. All radiographic signs were conventionally divided into positive and negative. Positive traits characterize the structure of normally fulfilled viable seeds, negative ones indicate the presence of developmental defects.