Lotes e posições podem influenciar no teste de crescimento de plântulas de soja?

Abstract

Soybean cultivation plays a key role in Brazilian agribusiness, with the country ranking as the world’s leading producer in the 2024/25 season (CONAB, 2024). The use of certified, high-quality seeds is essential to achieve high productivity, as vigorous seed lots can increase yields by up to 30%. Vigor is defined as the ability of seeds to produce normal, rapid, and uniform seedlings, even under adverse conditions. Among the laboratory tests used to assess seed vigor, the seedling growth test stands out, as it considers physiological aspects such as geotropism and phototropism, related to the efficient use of seed reserves. This study was carried out using a 4 × 3 factorial design, in which the first factor comprised four soybean seed lots (059A21, 061A21, 882021, and 892021), and the second factor consisted of seed placement on blotting paper: (1) radicle tip facing the paper base (recommended standard), (2) hilum facing the top, and (3) hilum facing the base. The objective was to evaluate whether different seed lots and positions influence the results of the soybean seedling growth test.