Poorly harvested and stored soya bean seeds loses its ability to germinate, wet or moldy seeds rot during storage. Proper harvesting , drying, winnowing, sorting and storing increases life span.
Moulds is the major enemy to soya beans.
Winnowing & drying
Always harvest when leaves turn yellow or when seeds make noise when shaken: By cutting and pilling soya plants in fields for 10 days after turn piles every 3 days to properly dry the pods and grains.
Separate seeds from pods on clean tarpaulin but do not hit hard as this breaks the seeds. Winnow soya beans to remove rubbish. Sort out deformed mouldy seeds, because they do not grow well.
Dry the seeds on clean ground for 2-3 days, however keep an eye on soya beans both in field and on drying ground to prevent animal damage and never transport seeds in rain as it reduces quality.
Storage
Store seeds in jute bags so that heat produced by seeds pass quickly and firmly close bags to prevent damage from mice, rats and rubbish but do not add any storage product to seeds since they are very hard and smooth. Place seed bags on wooden planks and store in well ventilated store to prevent moisture that causes development of moulds.
