GERMINATIVE EVALUATION OF SOYBEAN (Glycine max) UNDER DIFFERENT WATER LEVELS

Resumo

The soybean crop (Glycine max) is of great global importance due to its various purposes for both human and animal food industries, as well as raw material for agribusiness. The seed germination stage is one of the crucial phases in the plant's life cycle, directly influencing productivity and crop quality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different water levels on soybean seed germination, aiming to understand how water availability influences this fundamental process for the initial establishment of the crop. The experiment involved evaluating the influence of three water levels (50%, 75%, and 100% of the substrate's field capacity), analyzing total germination rate, germination speed index, and seedling height. For each treatment, four replicates of 50 seeds each were performed. Data collection involved daily counting of germinated seeds over eight days; the total number of germinated seeds divided by the number of days resulted in the germination speed index. Summing the germinated seeds yielded the total germination rate. Measuring the height of 10 seedlings per replicate provided the average height per treatment. Means were compared by Tukey's test at a 5% probability level. The most ideal treatment was Treatment 2, with 75% of field capacity.