###### Abstract  
The objective of this study was to determine the seed flow characteristics and in-row seed distribution uniformity under different operating conditions to develop mathematical models and to optimize the seed distribution uniformity in the seeding of sage seeds by a micro-granule applicator equipped with a conveyor belt seed-metering unit. In this study, weighing tests were used to determine the seed flow characteristics, while sticky belt tests were used to determine the in-row seed distribution uniformity. While the evaluations of flow uniformity were carried out depending on the coefficient of variation values (CVs), in-row seed distribution uniformity evaluations were carried out using the values of the variation factor (V\({}_{\mathrm{f}}\)) and goodness criterion (\(\lambda\)). Central Composite Design (CCD) was used as the experimental design. Based on the analysis of data obtained from the experiments, the polynomial functions were developed for V\({}_{\mathrm{f}}\) and \(\lambda\) values and the models were optimized. The forward speed was determined as 2.14 m s\({}^{-1}\), the seed rate was 13.9 kg ha\({}^{-1}\), and the seed falling angle was 42.73\({}^{\circ}\) for the V\({}_{\mathrm{f}}\) model, while these values were determined as 2.43 m s\({}^{-1}\), 14.7 kg ha\({}^{-1}\), and 33.11\({}^{\circ}\), respectively, for the \(\lambda\) model. All these findings reveal that the metering unit equipped with conveyor belt could be used for the seeding of sage seeds successfully. Data and information found in this work would have great potential to be used as a guide for farmers, manufacturers, and scientists who work in such areas. 1  
2024 16 November 2  
Studies conducted on medicinal and aromatic plants around the world generally focus on issues such as the effect of climatic conditions on these plants [1], determining different usage areas of these plants [2], and the harvesting and drying of the plants [3; 4; 5; 6; 7]. Studies involving seeding, harvesting, and drying mechanisms have generally been conducted by agronomists. In these studies, seeds were mostly placed in the soil by hand, and plants were harvested and evaluated in terms of yield and quality parameters [8; 9]. Currently, there is a limited number of studies conducted using seeders when only considering evaluating machine performance [10; 11]. When studies using age are examined, the situation is similar. For instance, in previous work [12], applications that increase germination and emergence performance in age species were revealed. For this purpose, nine different coating techniques were applied to age seeds and germination, and emergence degrees were observed. Based on the statistical analysis, it was found that the coating processes affected the seeds positively and germination and emergence degrees were improved. In previous work [13], a new harvester prototype was developed for cutting and collecting different types of aromatic and medical plants. To test this harvester, sage, rosemary, and winter savory were used. Based on the results, it was found that the working time taken by the machine to collect sage was the highest compared to other plants. The average value of fuel consumption for sage was also found to be the highest one with 0.32 kg kWh\({}^{-1}\). The machine working efficiency ranged from 28.5 to 36.9 m\({}^{2}\) min\({}^{-1}\) for all plants. Generally, the performance of the prototype demonstrated clear results regarding harvesting different kinds of plants successfully. The optimization studies conducted with medicinal and aromatic plants mostly focus on oil or mineral extraction. There are also studies using sage in this area. In a previous study [14], response-surface methodology was applied for the optimization of hydrocolloid extraction from wild sage seed. In this study, the effect of temperatures of 25-80 \({}^{\circ}\)C; a water-to-seed rate of 25:1-85:1; and a pH of 3-9 on the yield, apparent viscosity, and emulsion stability index of hydrocolloid extracted from wild sage seed was investigated.