Nodulation of soybean cultivars and its effects on grain yield

Abstract

The adaptations of the soybean crop to a new environment as well as the need of a symbiotic relation among Bradyrhizobium bacteria and the commercial cultivars of soybean impose barriers to the grain productive process. The objective of this work was to evaluate the interaction of nodulation and the morphophysiological components over the final yield of soybean grains in the edaphoclimatical conditions of Recôncavo Baiano Region. The experiment was performed at the Experimental Field of the Federal University of Bahia, Cruz das Almas (BA), with an experimental design of randomized blocks, with nine soybean cultivars and four replications. The evaluations were performed in the stage of full flowering with the quantification of the number and mass of nodules, leaf area, total dry mass; and another evaluation in the full maturation stage, quantifying the grain yield. More than 40% of the grain yield was correlated to the components of nodulation of the soybean cultivars Curió, Conquista and Liderança cultivars presented the best performances in the yield of grain.