Productive performance of soybean plants originated from seed lots with increasing vigor levels

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the productive performance of soybean crops, in response to the use of seeds from lots with increasing vigor levels. The study was developed during the 2014/2015 and 2015/2016crops. In the first period, 14 treatments were evaluated, consisting of two factors, two genotypes (Syn 1059RR and NK7059RR), and seven seed lots. In the second seven treatments were considered, involving one genotype (Syn 1158RR) and seven seed lots. In both crop years, seed lots had vigor levels of 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 and 95%, as determined by the accelerated aging test. The experiment was performed in a randomized block design, with a factorial scheme and five replications. Plant height, yield components, and grain yield were assessed throughout the culture cycle. The reflex of seed vigor in crop performance depended on the genotype employed. Also, there was an increase in both vegetative and reproductive performances of the crop as a function of seed vigor level. In this sense, every percentage point augmented in the vigor level of the lots resulted in a grain yield expansion of up to 28 kg.ha-1.