# The Analysis of the Applications of Crop Seed Tape Sowing Technology and Equipment: A Review
## 3 Research on Key Technology and Equipment for Seed Tape Manufacture
### Key Technology of Seed Tape Manufacture
#### 3.2.1 The Seed Wrapping Technology and Equipment  
In general, seed wrapping technology mainly includes 3 types which are paper tape folding, multi-layer paper tape wrapping, and rope twisting. Folding type refers to wrapping seeds in a seed rope by folding one layer of tape, such as the seed tape designed by [PERSON] (Figure 2a). The twisting type refers to the use of only one paper tape to make seed tape by twisting the tape (Figure 2b). The multi-layer paper tape wrapping type refers to the use of two layers or more sandwic of the seeds to form a seed tape (Figure 2c). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline
**Task** & **Material** & **Method** & **Results** & **Ref** \\ \hline To develop the & & & & \\ environmentally friendly & PLA non-woven fabric & Non-woven stacking & The sample reached about 115 & [PERSON] et al. (2006) \\ biodegradable composites & & method & MPa in bending strength & [43] \\ \hline To improve the ductility of & & & & \\ PLA film & & Adding epoxidize & & \\  & PLA & Karanja oil (EKO) to & & \\  & PLA & PLA & improving the elongation with & \\  & & & 5 wt\% & \\ \hline To apply free-of-chemicals & & & & \\ pre-treatments to maximise & & & & \\ the environmental benefit of & & fibre & & \\  & & & & \\  & & & & \\  & & & & \\ \hline To investigate the influence & & & & (1) The addition of NR to the PLA & \\ of environmental factors & & & & matrix leads to a slight increase in & \\ such as water and UV & & & & the melting temperature; & \\ irradiation on degradation & & & irradiation & (2) After 100 h of UV exposure & \\  & & & & melting and crystallization & \\  & & & & temperature decreased & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Summarizes the research of seed tape materials. Figure 1: The experimental scheme in [PERSON]’s research [41]. When the seed tape planting technology was first proposed, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [49] designed a seed tape winding machine whose transmission system of this mechanism was more complicated, and the rope wrapping system, the gluing system was driven by a multi-stage gear structure. Its seed-metering type was pneumatic and the seed was wrapped in the seed rope in a three-fold way. On certain occasions, some groups still have a demand for micro seed tapes, such as university researchers and experimental farms. To satisfy the requirement, [PERSON] et al. [50] designed a small pneumatic seeding type rope winding machine. This machine can be used for seed tapes and seeds of different widths. The machine was also equipped with a speed adjustment device and a counting device to better record the parameters of the seed reel. [PERSON] and [PERSON] et al. [48; 51; 52; 53] surrounded seeds with special additives and binders and sandwiched them between two layers of water-soluble material. Therefore, the seeds can be kept in an adequate water environment during germination which controls the germination process. [PERSON] [46] proposed that pesticides should also be implanted into seed tape, and the seeds and fertilizer should be placed at intervals that would improve crop disease resistance. [PERSON] [54] has designed a dispensing package for the roll of seed tape machine which consisted of a plasticized cardboard. It could lock the reel in a predetermined position and ensure the quality of seed tape. [PERSON] [55] suggested that the two layers that wrap seeds should be heat sealed together. In order to achieve the production of corn seed tape with high efficiency and high quality, [PERSON] et al. [56] has designed a corn directional seed tape production technology. The helical winding of the seed tape can be realized by the winding motor driven by a sensor signal from the height sensor. A perforated seed rope winding machine (Figure 3) was developed by the German engineer [PERSON] [57]. The seed tape made by this mechanism was composed of three layers of paper tape.