IMPROVING THE METHOD OF SEPARATING ONION INFLORESCENCES WITH A PEDUNCLE

It is known that about 80% of the total onion harvest is grown from sets. One of the most problematic processes in the production of onion seeds is the harvesting of seed plants, which cannot be carried out by direct combining due to the high moisture content of the mass (70-80%), separate harvesting with reapers and mowers - due to the high shedding of seeds during mowing and picking up the mass. The possibilities of harvesting inflorescences by tearing them off from the peduncles were studied. To create new harvesting technical means, design organizations and agricultural machinery enterprises when substantiating the work, breeders and seed growers when describing the bred varieties, use measuring instruments to determine the strength characteristics of plants, assess their physical and mechanical properties. The purpose of the work is to improve the method of separating onion inflorescences with the peduncle stem (arrow), with subsequent experimental laboratory testing of a mock-up sample of the device with the proposed design. The obtained experimental data allow us to reliably state that the experimental ratio between the shear strength limit of the material and the tensile strength limit for stems (arrows) of seed onions is in the range of 0.51-0.55 (on average 0.517) with a variation coefficient of 2.5%. Experimental verification of the method for determining the force characterizing the strength of the connection of onion inflorescences with the stem of the peduncle (arrow) and the device for its implementation confirmed the rationality of the technical solution and demonstrated its operability in actual field conditions when obtaining reliable data