SEED SIZE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOY

Abstract

THE FINAL PRODUCTIVITY OF CROPS IS INFLUENCED BY SEVERAL FACTORS, WITH THE QUALITY OF SEED DEPOSITED IN THE SOIL AT THE TIME OF SOWING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK WAS TO EVALUATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIFFERENT SIZES OF SOYBEAN SEEDS WITH THE GROWTH RATE OF THE AERIAL PART OF THE ROOT. THE WORK WAS CARRIED OUT IN VIANÓPOLIS, GOI�S. SOYBEAN SEEDS OF TWO COMMERCIAL VARIETIES, 8579 RSF IPRO AND 8473 RSF RR, WERE USED. THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN WAS ARRANGED IN RANDOMIZED BLOCKS IN A 4X2 FACTORIAL SCHEME. TO COMPOSE THE TREATMENTS, FOUR DIFFERENT SIEVES WERE USED FOR EACH CULTIVAR, BEING 5.5 MM, 6.25 MM, 6.75 MM AND 7.0 MM. THE SEEDS WERE PLANTED IN SEQUENCE IN MASONRY BEDS, 1.1 M WIDE AND 10 M LONG. AT 14 DAYS AFTER PLANTING, SEEDLING HEIGHT (CM) AND ROOT LENGTH (CM) WERE EVALUATED. 10 PLANTS WERE MEASURED PER REPETITION. THE COLLECTED DATA WERE TABULATED AND SUBMITTED TO ANOVA ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND THE COMPARISON OF AVERAGES BY THE TUKEY TEST AT 5% PROBABILITY PERFORMED BY THE SISVAR�® SOFTWARE. THE SIZE OF THE SIEVE IN THE SOYBEAN INFLUENCES THE INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEEDLINGS AND THE LENGTH OF THE ROOT, BEING THAT THE LARGER SIEVES HAVE A SUPERIOR DEVELOPMENT TO THE SMALLER SIEVE. THE SPEED OF SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT AND ROOT SIZE ARE IMPORTANT PARAMETERS IN OBTAINING A UNIFORM PLANT STAND IN THE FIELD, AND THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS BEST OBSERVED IN SEEDS WITH THE LARGEST SIEVE REGARDLESS OF THE CULTIVAR USED.