Stimulating effect of thermotherapy on soybean (Glycine max L.) seeds for use in summer sowing

Abstract

Thermotherapy has been proved to be an effective and easy to apply method to achieve a stimulation in germination and development of seedlings, in results of laboratory evaluations, based on dry heat to soybean seeds for the germination stimulation of these seeds and their vigor. The best exposure time to the treatment that enhanced germination and the characters associated to this, in nine Cuban soybean cultivars was determined. It was proved that the most effective thermotherapeutic treatment for the studied variables was the one resulting from five hours of exposure of the seeds to 50 °C. In this work, the field results are presented with such treatment of five hours of exposure to 50 °C in soybean seeds prior to sowing, under summer sowing of 2020, to evaluate the effect on morphological characters, yield components and real yield in seven Cuban soybean cultivars (Glicyne max L.). The trial of the present research was carried out in agricultural areas of the Agricultural Services Department of INCA, in the period from July 13 to November 5, 2020. The thermotherapeutic seed treatments of 50 °C during 5 hours define significant productive increases to any cultivar in summer sowing, at the time of harvesting executed to each cultivar according to its productive cycle.