Sesame — Open questions
⚠️ “Unknown” is preferable to fabricated certainty. Retire a question only with an accepted
S-####source note or a recordedEX-####experiment.
Cultivar and production context
Section titled “Cultivar and production context”- Which locally obtainable cultivar is appropriate for seed use, oil extraction, and the target Mexican climate?
- Is its capsule type dehiscent, partially dehiscent, or non-dehiscent, and how does that change harvest practice?
- How do photoperiod and sowing date affect flowering and maturity at the intended latitude?
Establishment and management
Section titled “Establishment and management”- What germination temperature and seedbed conditions produce reliable emergence at household scale?
- What spacing and plant density balance branching, capsule number, weed competition, lodging, and manual access?
- What practical irrigation schedule applies by growth stage? Seasonal water totals remain
Unknown. - What fertilizer or compost strategy is suitable for a small plot without transferring field-trial rates blindly?
- Which pests, diseases, and weeds materially affect sesame in the intended Mexican region?
Harvest and processing
Section titled “Harvest and processing”- Which visible maturity indicators minimize the tradeoff between immature seed and shattering loss?
- How many labor-hours are required per kilogram of clean seed for cutting/pulling, bundling, drying, threshing, winnowing, and final cleaning?
- What percentage of seed is lost before, during, and after manual harvest? Needs experiment.
- Which household tools and screens separate sesame seed efficiently without unacceptable loss or contamination?
- How much filtered oil can a manual or small mechanical press recover per kilogram of clean seed, including labor and residual cake? Needs experiment.
Drying, storage, and food-use boundaries
Section titled “Drying, storage, and food-use boundaries”- What drying endpoint and household container preserve food seed and planting-seed viability without mold or stored-product pests?
- What authoritative allergen, microbial, mycotoxin, pesticide-residue, and handling guidance applies to home-produced sesame seed and oil?
Candidate experiments
Section titled “Candidate experiments”- E1: Small-plot spacing/density comparison with emergence and branching records.
- E2: Staged harvest comparison: capsule maturity, shattering, and recovered clean seed.
- E3: Manual harvest → drying → threshing → cleaning benchmark (time, mass, losses).
- E4: Household storage comparison for food seed and planting-seed viability.