Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
The study of soybean (Glycine max) biometry and phenology can detect characteristics that interfere with yield, and quantitative plant development may vary according to the interaction between the genotype and the environment, and in different phenological development stages of the plant. This study evaluated the quantitative changes and phenological development caused by sowing date and their relation to grain yield of four contrasting soybean cultivars. The experimental design was a split plot with three replications, being the sowing date allocated to plots and the cultivars to subplot. The height of plants, diameter and number of nodes of the main stem, number of the branches, and leaf area index (LAI) were determined at four growth stages: V4, V9, R2 and R5.3, and the number and dry matter (DM) of the nodules at R5.3 growth stage. There was a reduction of growth in all cultivars with delayed sowing dates; however, the cultivar of determined growth habit showed to be less responsive to different sowing dates than the other cultivars. The DM of nodules was higher when plants were sown in October, and the cultivar with larger LAI obtained more DM of nodules than the others cultivars. The definition of the final quantitative characteristic of the plants occurred after the growth stage V9, and the LAI was the character at R5.3 with highest correlation with grain yield.
Key words: Branches, Glycine max, leaf area index, nodulation, plants height.
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