A METHOD AND A DEVICE FOR TREATING CULTIVATION PRODUCTS OR CULTIVATION MEDIA

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.

DE-A-38 04 052 discloses a device for the destruction of noxious animals and plants. Use is made of microwaves. These animals and plants are subjected for a period of time to the microwaves required for their destruction.

SU-A-1 152 540 relates to the treatment of plants by means of a magnetic field generated by permanent magnets having alternating respective polarities and being directed to a conveyor.

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 intermittent electric and/or a magnetic field having a repetition frequency in the range of 30-200Hz 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 effectiveness 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 pulse width can lie for instance in the order of magnitude of 0.2 - 2 ms and, in 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 mains frequency. The mains 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 in question or undergo a change in 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 in which they are subjected to a method according 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.