13. LAYOUT AND FURNISHING OF THESEED TESTING LABORATORY

NS. TUNH:J\R, v.I'. .'-;'lNGH&:S'.V.SINGH

I .ayout and furnishing of a laboratory directly reflects the quality and quantity

of work. A well planned and well furnished laboratory not only create an ideal and

pleasant working environment but also helps to obtain accurate and timely results.

Senders of the sample; whether a seed inspector. seed certification agency or a

farmer, all expect results of their samples at the earliest possible. 'lbe space

available for conducting v~lrious tests. arrangement of the furniture and fixtures

and equipment contribute gn:;ill~ to meet the expectations of the sender of the

sam pies.

The layout and furl1lsl1ing of a seed testing laboratory would chiefly depend

on two factors V1/.,Glpa

th.e Sec

should also he considered maximise the use of all availahle space. to minimisI.' the

cost of construction. to provide good working atmosphere arid safety and to

minimisI.' the cost of maintenance. FolloWIng 1~lctors. should therefore. be con-

sidered at the time of designing the building.

i. The layout should he such that movement of the samples from one section

\0 another is logical and rapid:

ii. The room of the ollicer-in-charge is located in such :1way that supervision

hecomes easy and effective:

iii. Maximum use ofslInlight for illumination:

iv. The germination room and the air,conditioned storage rooms should not

face direct sunlight to redun: the cost on m:linten:mcc or the desired temperature:

v. The design should permit extension in future. ifrequired:

vi. Arrangement of w;lter supply and drainage should require minimumplumbingwork.

A completely separate huilding for seed testing laboratory is always an idealchoice. The building should he dividcd into two main sections namely general:il"fairssection and laboratory section. "Ihe general affairs section includes therooms of officer incharge and other officials namely administrative staff. seedanalystsand record rooms. The laboratory section isdivided insuhsections namelysamplesreceipt and preparation room. physical purity room. seed moisture room.germination.seed health. special tests and seed samples storage.

The noor plans of 3 ditTerent size and C

house adjacent to the building. The entrace in the green house should be providedfrom main building as well as from oul"ide. It is also recommended that a small

size farm adjacent to the laboratory (2 to 5 hectures) should be made available toa seed testing laboratory to conduct field plot test. This would facilitate theexamination of a particular sample in laboratory, green house and in field simul-taneously and to correlate the results.

A suitable exhaust system should be provided in sample receipt and dividing

room to handle the treated seed without any health ha7--Hrd.Water should be made

available as closely as possible to each section requiring it. lhe disposal ofgermination paper should be planned in a way to avoid wetting of other sectionsof the laboratory. There should be proper drainage in each room.

Furnishing of the building

Samples receipt. n'~i~trati..n and divid~ room

The room should be furnished with suitable tables and chairs for the officials

engaged in receipt and registration of the samples. Suitable place should also be

availaolc to keep the records used for receipt and registration of the samples.

Similarly, tables should abo be availaole.to mount the various sample dividing

instruments so that they could be operated by the seed analysts with convenience.

If computer is to be used to assist in various activities, a separate room with

adequate furniture should be available.

Two types of table could be usee! for mounting the equipments needed for

preparation of samples for various tests namely; tables with storage unit and tables

without any storage unit (hg. 13.5 and 13.6). 'Ihese tables would be suitable for

mounting different types of balances in various sections of the building. .

Equipment

Different types of equipment arc to be used for conducting desired tests in

various sections of the laboratory. Accordingly. each section should provide

sufficient space to install and operate the required equipment. The requirement anduse of equipment has been discussed in a separate chapter.

196

Moi~tur(" Unit

Moisture Unit should be furnished in such a way that necessary equipment

suchas seed grinders. desiccators. sieves. hotair ovens. moisture metersetc.neededto conduct the moisture test are placed properly. For this purpose, a table with theprovisionof racks should be fitted in the moisture unit. On the top of the table seed

grinding mill, ovens, moisture meters of various types, desiccators and balance

should be mounted. The space available in the racks could be used for storingcontainers, tongs, sieves ~tc.

Purity

Testing seeds for purity is a meticulous. painstaking operation. requiring

constant use of eyes. To avoid serious strain on eys the purity section should have

large, single paned windows. extending to within approximately 75 cm. form the

floor and overlooking a wide expanse of green vegetation. The first consideration

in choosing a location for the purity-testing section should be window space with

sufficient naturallighLIt is believed that daylight causes less eye strain and fatigue

than any other light. Abo, shadows from the head. hands, and instruments are

reduced to a minimum ifnturallight is used injuducious way. Examination of seeds

by natural daylight oIlen avoids confusion over color, texture and brilliance. With

proper provisions for daylight. artificial light is required only on the darkest .days

or during early mornings and late afternoons of the short winter days. If artificial

light is used the analysts should have individual. adjustable. multiple tube. fluores-

cent lamps of the daylight type.

In purity section. space .is needed to mount weighing balances with suitable

working space for the seed analyst. The weighing table could be of stone slab or a

concrete working hench. The table should be provided with suitable base so that

those could ensure a vibration free place.

Working tab les should be of such a design that they could provide com fortable

working space to the seed analysts. Apart from that each working table should be

provided with a built in diaphanoscope. The diaphanoscope could be provided by

making a cut into the table top arid by covering it with a thick glass plate and by

placing a small microscope lamp underneath (Fig. D.7) or a free standing

diaphanoscope could be provided on the table. Each working table should be

provided with good source of artificial light through fluorescent daylight tubes.

Similarly, suitable shelves and cupboards should be provided in the purity room

197

which could be used to store temporarily various purity components. A separate

place should be available to store the specimen tubes containing crop seeds and

weed seeds so that seed analyst could use them for quick reference.

Germination Section

The germination section consists of two sub-sections namely; sample pFepara-

tion and putlingand germination.room/cabinet. The samp!L' preparation and pulling

room requires working space for counting the seeds and placement. Therefore, the

working table should provide sufficient space to spre,ld towel-papers etc. for

putting the seeds. Similarly, it should have source of good quality water and sink

of appropriate size so that paper towel could be soaked and seedling etc. could be

washed, if required. The top of the table should be of such colour so that it could

provide good background for examination of the essential pans of the seedling.

Germination Space

Considering the limitation of cabinet type germinators it becomes essential to

construct walk-in germination rooms. The cost per cubic centimctre of germina-

tion space wil! be less than the cost of cabinet germinators. The size of walk-in

germination room would depend on the number of samples to be tested ina 'year

and space available. At least two walk-in germination of desired size to provide

different temperature range of 150(: to 25 and 25°(: to 35°(: arc essential for each

laboratory.

The walk-in germination rooms may be conditioned for temperature using

window type airconditioners of adequate capacity with built in heating units. It is

easy to instal and maintain these. The maintenance cost is abo less. If the

air-conditioners do not contain a heating unit. a separate heating unit would be

required. Each air-conditioners should be controlled by a thermostat that allows

t1uctuations of not more than:!: 1Dc. The automatic voltage stabilizer should also

be provided. It would increase the life of air-conditioners by maintaining a constant

voltage level.

Proper insulation is an essential requirement of walk-in germination room.Insulation helps to check the temperature exch,mgebetween di/krent temperaturesavailable within the room and outside and to minimise the possibility of conden-sation of water on the walls. °f11ercfore.room should be insulated on all sides, Door

and the ceiling with a proper thickness of insulation material. On an average 5 to

198

10cm thicknessis sufficient.Varioustypesof materialsarc used for insulationsuch as thermocol. fibregla..

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