Soybean Seed Vigor: Uniformity and Growth as Key Factors to Improve Yield

Abstract

Emergence uniformity and the time required for emergence are essential factors for obtaining highly productive potential in plants. Factors such as sowing depth and soil moisture affect uniformity and emergence, but little is known about the impacts of seed vigor. Thus, we determined the impacts of seed vigor on uniformity and growth as well as development and yield in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) plants. The treatments consisted of four vigor levels (89%, 57%, 47%, and 43%) obtained by accelerated aging, in a randomized block design, with five replicates at three sites. Seeds with the highest vigor level showed higher uniformity and faster emergence. Dominated plants through their phenotypic plasticity modify stem diameter and internode length. The plants that emerged earlier had a larger leaf area in the three stages (V1, V4, and R2), allowing them to accumulate more photoassimilates in the initial stages. Consequently, these plants exhibited an increase in yield components, especially in the number of fertile nodes and the number of pods per plant, making them more productive.