A METHOD AND A DEVICE FOR TREATING CULTIVATION PRODUCTS OR CULTIVATION MEDIA, AND CULTIVATION PRODUCTS OBTAINED WITH THE METHOD

Abstract: It is an object of the invention to provide a method and a device using which cultivation products and cultivation media can be treated effectively such that damage to these cultivation products is effectively prevented, whereby the effective yield of these cultivation products can be increased considerably. In respect of the above the invention provides a method for treating cultivation products or a cultivation medium, for instance cultivated soil or a growth substrate, against micro-organisms, for instance nematodes, according to which method the cultivation products for treating are placed in an electric and/or a magnetic field and held therein for a certain minimum time.

Description: A METHOD AND A DEVICE FOR TREATING CULTIVATION PRODUCTS OR CULTIVATION MEDIA, AND CULTIVATION PRODUCTS OBTAINED WITH THE METHOD It is a known problem that cultivation products such as bulbous plants, for instance lilies or also potatoes, are often damaged by micro-organisms such as nematodes, insects, fungi, bacteria and viruses. Such micro-organisms are often to be found in cultivated soil or other cultivation media and plant tissues such as that of roots, bulbs and tubers and other plant parts, and affect this tissue when the cultivation products are re-planted. It is an object of the invention to provide a method and a device using which cultivation products or cultivation media can be effectively treated such that damage to cultivation products is effectively prevented, whereby the effective yield of these cultivation products can be increased considerably. In respect of the above the invention provides a method for treating cultivation products or a cultivation medium, for instance cultivated soil or a growth substrate, against micro-organisms, for instance nematodes, according to which method the cultivation products for treating are placed in an electric and/or a magnetic field and held therein for a certain minimum time. The method according to the invention influences the so-called "diapause", or the moment at which larvae emerge from the egg. Without being able to go into the still partly uncomprehended action, it can be stated that the method according to the invention results in an effective biological disruption of the animal organisms whereby for instance a larva emerges unnaturally quickly from the egg, whereby chances of survival are considerably reduced. In respect of the ef ectiveness of the disruption of the animal organisms it has been established that the method according to the invention does not affect the surrounding vegetable tissue, or does so only to a negligible extent. A preferred embodiment has the special feature that the field is an alternating field. Very good results have been achieved with a method wherein the field is an intermittent field. This embodiment can be embodied such that use can be made of pulses. Pulses can be deemed in this context for instance as relatively short-lived variations in a value 0, wherein in a relatively short time a maximum value is reached which subsequently decreases again to the value 0. The pulses are preferably rounded such that the spectral widening remains as limited as possible. This prevents radiation and other disturbances at undesired frequencies. The repetition frequency can lie for instance in the range 30-200 Hz. The pulse width can lie for instance in the order of magnitude of 0.2 - 2 ms and, the case of a magnetic field, the peak value can lie in the investigated case in the order of magnitude of 800 μT. A very practical embodiment has the feature that the field has a frequency corresponding with the mams frequency. The mams frequency has the advantage of easy availability and can usually avoid the problem of means being required to generate specific frequencies. The field strength must have a value such that the micro-organisms can perceive the field and are thus stimulated to leave the environment m question or undergo a change m life-cycle. Conversely, the field strength may not be so great that danger to humans could occur. A particular embodiment which complies with these criteria has the special feature that the field is a magnetic field and the field strength at the position of the cultivation products for treating has a maximum value in the range of roughly 0.5 - 1,000 μT. Attention is drawn to the fact that an alternating field does not necessarily have to display a harmonic progression. Other waveforms are also possible. The phase of an alternating current can for instance be cut into by means of a thyristor control whereby in each case only a first part of a slope is effective from the zero line. A modulated pulse width with adjustable duty cycle can also be applied. A very practical embodiment has the special feature that the cultivation products for treating are guided on a conveyor belt through a treatment station which they are subjected to a method accordmg to the invention. It is in any case already usual to transport the cultivation products on a conveyor belt in a treatment station. Adjacently of such a conveyor belt can be placed a treatment station according to the invention which is adapted to generate an electric and/or a magnetic field for the purpose of performing the above specified method according to the invention. Finally, the invention relates to cultivation products and cultivation media obtained with a method according to the invention.

Claims: CLAIMS 1 Method for treating cultivation products or a cultivation medium, for instance cultivated soil or a growth substrate, against micro-organisms, for instance nematodes, according to which method the cultivation products for treating are placed in an electric and/or a magnetic field and held therein for a certain minimum 2. Method as claimed claim 1, wherein the field is an alternating field. 3 Method as claimed m claim 1, wherein the field is an intermittent field. 4. Method as claimed in either of the claims 2 or 3, wherem the field has a frequency correspondmg with the mains frequency. 5. Method as claimed m claim 1, wherein the field is a magnetic field and the field strength at the position of the cultivation products for treating has a maximum value m the range of roughly 0.5 - 1,000 μT 6. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherem the cultivation products for treating are guided on a conveyor belt through a treatment station m which they are subjected to the method as claimed in any of the foregoing claims. 7 Device for performing the method as claimed any of the foregoing claims for treating cultivation products against micro-organisms, for instance nematodes, which device can be placed in the vicinity of positioning means for positioning the cultivation products for treating, and comprises means for generating an electric and/or magnetic field the vicinity of these positioning means 8. Cultivation product or cultivation medium obtained by applying the method as claimed in any of the claims 1-5

Inventors: DIJKMAN HERMAN, SMIT JACOBUS CORNELIS, DIJKMAN, HERMAN, SMIT, JACOBUS, CORNELIS
Applicants: DIJKMAN HERMAN, SIMCO NEDERLAND, SMIT JACOBUS CORNELIS, DIJKMAN, HERMAN, SIMCO NEDERLAND B.V, SMIT, JACOBUS, CORNELIS
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A01C1
IPC codes: A01B47, A01M17, A01M19, A01M29