Effect of sowing season on soybean performance

Abstract

The soybean presents great economic expression and high impact in the Brazilian agribusiness. The productive potential of a cultivar is expressed according to the genetic constitution and the environment. The sowing time exerts influence on the agronomic traits of the soybean, impacting the yield of grains. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the sowing season on the productive potential and the agronomic traits of soybean. The work was conducted at the Capim Branco experimental farm, belonging to the Federal University of Uberlândia. Twelve cultivars (UFUS 6901, UFUS 7415, BRSMG 68, TMG 801, TMG 7062 IPRO, TMG 2158 IPRO, BRS 7270 IPRO, NA 5909 RR, NS 6909 RR, CD 2737 RR, P98Y30 RR e BRASMAX Desafio RR) and four sowing seasons (October 22, November 5, December 22, 2016 and January 5, 2017) were used. The experimental design was a randomized block design with four replicates. The evaluated characters were: number of days for flowering and maturity, plant height at maturity, insertion height for the first pod, number of nodes at maturity, total number of pods, number of tainted pods and productivity. The sowing carried out in October and November contributed to obtain a larger number of nodes and a greater height of plants at maturity, which are agronomic traits favorable to higher productivity. Sowing delay seriously affected soybean yield and in the Uberlândia MG region the ideal sowing time was October 22, before the beginning of November. In the late sowing in December and January, the cultivars that had their productions less affected were the conventional cultivars BRSMG 68 and TMG 801.