Time of harvest, prethreshing treatment and quality in snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) seed crops

Abstract

Trials on the cultivars Canyon and Gallatin 50 in 1978 and Cascade in 1979 were run in North Queensland to examine ways of improving seed quality of snap beans. The trials concentrated on the maturation period, since this is a critical period for the development of seed quality. We found that seed quality was poor when the crop was cut at the stage when the leaves had fallen and all the pods were dry, or if the plants were cut at any stage and allowed to dry on the ground in single rows. This poor seed quality was associated with high pod temperatures during seed maturation. Cutting the crop before leaf fall, at a seed moisture content close to 50% (20-40% of pods dry) and windrowing immediately in 5 or 10 rows to 1 windrow gave low pod temperatures during seed maturation and high seed quality. Seed harvested and threshed directly off the crop was of good quality provided the seed moisture content in the crop had fallen to less than 25%.