How soybean cultivars canopy affect yield and quality

Abstract

Appropriate canopy as plant distributions and densities are the key for maximizing soybean productivity due to its main role in fixing energy. Two field experiments were performed at El-Garayda Village, Bialla district, Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, Egypt during 2010 and 2011 summer seasons to studying the effect of soybean cultivars plant densities and distributions on growth, seed yield and its oil and protein contents. Results showed that Giza 22 cultivar surpassed other studied cultivars followed by Giza 21 then Giza 111 and later by Crawford cultivar in both seasons. Plant population densities and distributions showed a significant effect on all studied characters in both seasons. Highest plant density produced the tallest plants in both seasons. Whereas, the highest values of stem diameter and total chlorophyll content, number of branches/plant, number of pods/plant, pod length, number of seeds/pod, number of seeds/plant, 100-seed weight, seed yield/plant, oil and protein percentages produced from planting 112 000 plants/fed as two sides of ridge in hills 25.0 cm apart in both seasons. However, the highest LAI and seed yield/fed were obtained by planting soybean on two sides of ridge in hills 15.0 cm apart, resulting 186 667 plants/fed in both seasons. In conclusion, sowing Giza 22 or Giza 21 cultivars on two sides of ridge in hills 15.0 cm apart in order to maximize seed yield/fed. © 2013 Asian Network for Scientific Information.