Soybean seed germination and initial seedling growth as affected by seed size

Abstract

Soybean seed size can have a major effect on the quality of seeds. Beside the effect that seed size has on 1000-grain weight, it can also affect other seed quality parameters. Some authors suggest it can be expected that larger seeds have better quality. Seeds with higher content of reserve nutrients provide better developed plants, so it is possible to expect higher yields. Since the soybean seed does not have the minimum dimension of certified seed prescribed by law, it is necessary to examine the minimum size of seed that gives good enough results at planting, growth and development of plants. On the basis of these indicators, set up of cleaners and selection of work sieves cleaners during processing of soybean seed should be accessed. Soybean has a roundish shape, so it is possible to calibrate by a simple procedure using sieves of different sizes and openings. The effect of certain sizes on the soybean seed germination and initial growth of seedlings of varieties which are characterized by different seed sizes was tested in this work. On that occasion the varieties Balkan, Victoria and Trijumf, which were developed at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad were used. Dry matter content in the plant was used as an indicator of initial seedling growth. It was found that the dry matter content of seedlings increases with larger sizes, compared to dry matter content of smaller sizes. Thus, the lowest value was recorded in the variety Trijumf, for the size of 4.0 to 4.5 mm 4.7 g, while the highest value was recorded also in the variety Trijumf for the size of 6.0 to 6.5 mm 8.1 g. In addition, it was observed that the germination of seed of different sizes has different values. The lowest values were recorded in Balkan variety for the size of 4.0 to 4.5 mm 64%, while the highest germination was recorded in the variety Victoria for the size of 5.5 to 6.0 mm 85%.

Krupnoća semena soje može da ima veliki uticaj na kvalitet semena. Pored toga što veličina zrna utiče na masu hiljadu zrna, takođe može da utiče i na druge parametere kvaliteta semena. Literaturni izvori navode na zaključak da se može očekivati da je krupnije seme kvalitetnije. Seme sa većim sadržajem rezervnih hranljivih materija daje razvijeniju biljku pa je moguće očekivati i veće prinose. S obzirom da kod semena soje nije zakonom propisana minimalna dimenzija deklarisanog semena, potrebno je ispitati koja minimalna dimenzija semena daje dovoljno dobre rezultate u setvi, porastu i razvoju biljke. Na osnovu tih pokazatelja bi trebalo pristupiti podešavanju prečistača i odabiru radnih sita prečistača tokom dorade semena soje. Seme soje ima okruglast oblik pa je moguće kalibraciju uraditi jednostavnim postupkom pomoću sita različitih dimenzija i otvora. U radu je ispitan uticaj određenih frakcija na klijavost semena soje i početnog porasta ponika za sorte koje se karakterišu različitom krupnoćom zrna. Tom prilikom su korišćene sorte Balkan, Victoria i Trijumf, koje su stvorene u Institutu za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo iz Novog Sada. Kao pokazatelj početnog porasta ponika korišćen je sadržaj suve materije u biljci. Utvrđeno je da se sadržaj suve materije ponika povećava kod krupnijih frakcija u odnosu na sadržaj suve materije kod sitnijih frakcija.Tako je najmanja vrednost zabeležena kod sorte Trijumf za frakciju 4,0-4,5 mm od 4,7 g, dok je najveća vrednost zabeležena takođe kod sorte Trijumf za frakciju 6,0-6,5 mm od 8,1g. Pored toga, uočeno je da klijavost semena različitih frakcija semena ima različite vrednosti. Najniže vrednosti su zabeležene kod sorte Balkan za frakciju 4,0-4,5 mm od 64%, dok je najviša klijavost semena zabeležena kod sorte Victoria za frakciju 5,5-6,0 mm od 85%.