Singularities Of White Clover Seed Harvesting In Lithuania

Abstract

This paper presents the results of white clover growing and seed harvesting in Lithuania.
Institute of Agricultural Engineering of Aleksandras Stulginskis University carried
out white clover seed harvesting experiments at an experimental field harvesting the white
clover variety ‘Bitūnai’ seed yield using different technologies and machinery: direct combining
of desiccated white clover, windrow harvesting and stripping-threshing. The following
machinery has been used: mower KS-2.1, modular tractor MTZ-80, combine harvester
SK-5, and combine harvester SR 500 with the stripper header and without it. Several biometrical
indexes and technological characteristics of white clover were examined, also
agricultural and energetic parameters, total energy of white clover yield and coefficient of
the energetic efficiency were determined while harvesting the crop of white clover by all
tested technologies.
After evaluating energy susceptibility of the machines, diesel and labour input as
well as the energetic efficiency coefficient, it was established that windrow harvesting was
the least effective technology for white clover seed harvesting. The total seed losses of
white clover harvesting were the highest when using direct combining and windrow harvesting
technologies and the lowest in the stripping-threshing technology. The most effective
results of white clover harvesting were achieved by using the stripping-threshing technology
with the output of combine harvester SR 500 being approximately 2 times higher
compared to traditional technology.

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