Productivity, quality and composition of soybean seeds in storage as a function of boron doses at different phenological stages

Abstract

Soybeans is one of the crops with significant impact on global food supply, so it’s important to study those relevant factors affecting its production and even the development of its seeds in the field. The macro and micronutrients are important, and continuously soybeans is concerned, boron is extremely important for biological nitrogen fixation, and participating in the physiological seed formation processes. Dose and timing of applications are important factors inner decisions related to crop production and management. Therefore, the goal of this work was to evaluate effects of times and doses of soil boron application on soybean quality, and its influence on the physiological characteristics after storage. The first phase of the experiment was conducted at the Goias State University, with a randomized complete 5 x 6 block factorial, with five stages (V0, V3, V6, V9 and R1) of boron application and six different doses (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 kg ha-1) of it, four replications, evaluating leaf boron content, chlorophyll index and seed yield in kg ha-1. The second phase was contrived in the laboratory aimed to evaluate the physiological quality of seeds after 6 months of storage and a concentration of nutritional supplements, with a completely randomized design in a 5 x 6 factorial arrangement with four replications as in the field with 5 stages and 6 doses. The variables analyzed were: germination, root length, shoot length, growth rate index, root development ratio and shoot development ratio. The reproductive stage showed the best averages for seed quality variables, whereas for doses, the intermediate levels showed positive results for most of the tests used in the study. However, there isn’t justification for fertilization boron to maintain the stored seeds quality.