Soybean seed quality, harvested by hand and mechanically, with different levels of moisture content

Abstract

The harvest is one of the main steps in the production process of soybean seeds. The right time to harvesting can vary depending on the type of harvest and seeds moisture content. The goal of this research was to determine alterations in soybean seeds physiological, harvested with different levels of seed moisture content, by hand and mechanically. The soybean seeds were from cultivars Embrapa 48 and FTS Águia, which have differences in seed coat lignin content, harvested by hand and mechanically with the moisture contents of 18.0, 15.0 and 12.0%. After harvest, the seeds were submitted to drying, and the seed quality was evaluated by germination, seedling emergence, tetrazolium (viability and vigor), accelerated aging tests and seedling speed of emergence. Then, seeds were kept in storage conditions (20 °C and 45% RU) and analyzed soon after the harvest and at six months of storage. The results indicated that seed physiological potential, is not affected, when: harvested by hand with seeds moisture content of 11.4% to 18.4%; and for seeds harvested mechanically, with moisture content between 12.0% to 15.9%; maintaining physiological quality, even after the storage period.