Silicon application to the soil on soybean yield and seed physiological quality

Use of quality seeds, balanced plant nutrition and the adoption of adequate cultivation techniques are critical to the success of the soybean crop. Use of silicon (Si) is a clean technology from an environmental point of view, which can confer several benefits to the plants as stimulate growth and plant production, improve tolerance of plants to attack by insects and diseases, reduce perspiration and increase the photosynthetic rate and protect against abiotic stresses. The goal was to evaluate the effect of soil Si application derived from rice husk ash on the agronomic characteristics, productivity and physiological quality of soybean cultivars seeds. The experiment was conducted in pots of 18 L filled with soil, under a randomized block design with four replications. The soybean cultivars were BMX Turbo RR and NA 5909 RR, grown under five doses of silicon (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 t ha-1). Agronomic traits and seed yield were evaluated (total number of pods on branches, total number of seeds on the branches, the total number of pods on the main stem, total number of seeds on the main stem, total number of pods per plant, total number of seeds per plant, seed weight per plant and seed weight of 1000). Physiological seed quality was evaluated by germination and vigor tests (first count of germination, cold test, accelerated aging, shoot length and root). The soil application of silicon is beneficial for the soybean crop, improving the main agronomic characteristics (total number of pods on branches, total number of seeds in the branches, total number of pods per plant, weight of seeds per plant) and increasing seed yield per plant in soybean cultivar BMX Turbo RR. The mass of a thousand seeds is positively influenced by the dose of 1.67 t ha-1 for the cultivar BMX Turbo RR and up to a dose of 2.32 t ha-1 for the cultivar NA 5909 RR. Cultivar BMX Turbo RR seed vigor is increased with the use of silicon in the soil.