Growth and production of soybean in response to spatial arrangement in savannah climate

Abstract

The management of spatial arrangement in soybean culture (Glycine max L., Merrill) from seeding density and row spacing is an important tool that contributes to yield growth. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of spatial arrangement in the development and the production components of soybean in the Piauí Cerrado savanna. The experimental design was completely randomized, with subdivided plots and four replicates. The main plots consisted of different row spacing (17.5 cm, 25 cm, 50 cm and 76 cm) and subplots consisted of plant populations as follows: recommended (280,000 plant/ha); 50% below recommended; 50% and 100% higher than recommended. The subdivided plots had six lines of five metres in length. The highest growth component values (plant height, stem diameter and number of nodes) were observed in the larger spacing (50 cm and 76 cm) and lower populations (recommended and 50% below recommended). The highest component yield values (number of grains per pod, number of grains per plant, number of pods per plant, weight of one thousand seeds and productivity) were observed in the larger spacing (50 cm and 76 cm) and in the recommended population for the cultivar.