Mechanical soybean harvest loss (Glycine Max (L.) Merril) in Maringá, state of Paraná

Abstract

The profile of the mechanical soybean harvest was evaluated in Maringá, State of Paraná, determining pre-harvest losses, header losses, combining total losses, crop total losses, the amount of MOG (other material different from the grain) and the amount of broken grains related to combined brands, ground speed, threshing cylinder rotation, and the moisture content of the grains during harvest. The data were submitted to a regression analysis of variance trying to establish a functional relationship between losses with grain moisture content among the combined brands, age and rotation of the threshing cylinder. The results obtained allowed conclusions that, the grain losses are independent of the combined brands and age; grain losses which are superior to the tolerance level of 60kg ha^-1 do not characterize good harvest performance; that the levels of grain residues reach the minimum limit of discount of 1%; that the break of grains increased with the increasing rotation of the trail cylinder; that the break of grains seems to indicate the non-training capability of the operator in the adjustment of the trail system and that most of the studied machines presented age superior to 10 years of use.