Effect of Water Soaking on Physical ProPerties of Hybrid Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Seeds

Better seed germination is obtained when cotton seed is soaked before planting. The physical properties of seeds changes due to effect of soaking. Thus soaked cotton seed properties are important in designing the planting equipment for cotton. Effect of soaking on some physical properties of four cotton hybrid seeds (RCH134, RCH-317, 7017 BG-II and MRC-7010) was determined. The soaking in water for 4 hours increases the moisture content from 681.73 to 851.71%db, length from13.23 to 19.16%, breadth from 2.82 to 10.28%, thickness from 6.31 to 13.59%, weight from 61.95 to 72.01% and angle of repose from16.70 to17.79%db. The sphericity (4.11 to 4.62%), bulk density (0.96 to 2.60%), true density (3.38 to 3.86%) and porosity (1.25 to 3.25%) decreased during soaking. The co-efficient of static friction increased from 0.397 to 0.496, 0.386 to 0.492, 0.376 to 0.481 and 0.378 to 0.488 on plywood; 0.365 to 0.467, 0.362 to 0.445, 0.353 to 0.447 and 0.356 to 0.466 on galvanized iron and 0.402 to 0.492, 0.403 to 0.508, 0.397 to 0.495 and 0.399 to 0.498 on mild steel for RCH-134, RCH-317, 7017 (BG-II) and MRC-7017 varieties, respectively.