Improving the Stand Establishment, Phenology and Yield of Soybean (Glycine max L.) by Various Physiological Enhancements.

Soybean is one of the most important legumes rich in high quality protein and oil. Its cultivation in Pakistan is restricted to few areas due to poor germination and low seed viability. The optimum yield and quality of this oil seed crop is noticeably affected by its lower germination rate. To address the problem of poor germination and low seed viability, a field study was conducted at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, during spring 2011. The experiment was composed of two soybean varieties (Faisal Soybean and 95-1) and five priming techniques (control, on-farm priming, hydro priming, hydration inoculation and osmo priming with 0.5% urea solution. Results revealed that hydro priming, on-farm priming and hydration inoculation significantly reduced the time to 50% emergence (E₅₀), mean emergence time (MET) and emergence index (EI) of both soybean varieties. Moreover, osmo priming had no significant effect on E₅₀, MET and EI that was at par with control. On an average, days to maturity (96.42), plant height (25.84 cm), plant population at harvest (25.22), 1000-seed weight (94.97 g), seed yield (1.71 t ha^-1) and biological yield (4.37 t ha^-1) of both soybean varieties was significantly improved by hydration inoculation and hydro priming techniques. It was concluded that hydration inoculation and hydro priming were best techniques for better stand establishment of soybean and may be recommended for farmers having the problem of less germination and poor stand establishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]