THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS SOWING DATES ON THE GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF SOYBEAN

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max L.), known for its abundant protein and oil content, holds significant prospective to play a crucial role in addressing especially oil and protein demand of the planet. While talking about the production of Soybean, the sowing timing may also potentially influence its growth, yield, and quality of soybean crops. Hence, a study was carried out at Kaleri Agriculture Farm in Tando Jam, Sindh, involving the cultivation of Kharif-93 Soybean varieties on various sowing dates in 2019 (7th Feb, 17th Feb, 27th Feb, 9th March, and 19th March). The findings of the experiment in the study area revealed that the sowing date of 17th Feb yielded higher compared to other dates. The yield parameters for different sowing dates were subjected to a t-test, given that the initial two sowing dates led to complete plant mortality. The statistically analyzed data indicated that the 17th of February sowing date exhibited superior germination counts and yielded higher numbers for various parameters, including pods per plant (30.53), seeds per plant (80.50), plant height (96.10 cm), 1000-seed weight (74.70 g), seed yield (1535.3 kg h-1), biological yield (4434.1 kg h-1), protein content % (32.60), and oil content % (20.95). In contrast, late sowing dates did not perform accordingly. This can be attributed to the fact that delayed planting did not allow the crops to reach their optimal capacity due to unfavorable (temperature increase) environmental conditions for Soybean cultivation. Hence, the study recommends sowing date of Soybean mid-February in the study area/Tandojam (district Hyderabad).