SEED QUALITY CHARACTERIZATION OF SOYBEAN CULTIVARS

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate thephysiological seed quality of seven soybean cultivars of earlycycle in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The seeds wereproduced in a regional cultivar trial tests (Julio deCastilhos/RS/Brazil), and stored at a cold chamber at 10ºCand 35% RH. The seeds were evaluated twice, in may/97 andnovember/97, by morphological description (hilum andhypocotyl color, hilum shape) and physiologicalcharacterization (standard germination, accelerated aging,electrical conductivity, tetrazolium test, and determination ofroot and hypocotyl length). A peroxidase test was performedand also the weight of a thousand seeds (WTS) was checked.The statistical design was completely randomized in a 7x2-bifactorial arrangement. The multiple mean comparison wasperformed using Duncan's test. The results showed that thosesoybean seeds had good germination and vigor, but qualitywas slightly reduced after six months, even on good storageconditions. Differences among cultivars were small. Standardgermination, accelerated aging and conductivity tests wereable to select soybean cultivars in relation to seed quality. Thesoybean cultivars produced in 1996/1997 and evaluated oncultivar trial test showed good physiological seed quality.