QUALITY OF SOYBEAN SEEDS UNDER STORAGE IN WESTERN SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL - DOI: 10.13083/1414-3984.v22n04a01

Abstract

High quality seeds are considered those showing good genetic, physiological, physical and sanitary properties. Quality control is of great importance for the maintenance of high quality seeds from the field to processing and storage of soybean seeds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological quality of seeds of transgenic (BMX Potência RR, BMX Energia RR, BMX Força RR, SYN 3358 RR) and conventional soybean (BRS 284) stored in conventional bag conditions until the time of selling. The seeds were obtained in the 2009/2010 growing season and stored for seven months in Campos Novos – SC, Brazil. For this study a representative sample of the batch was collected before being submitted to storage and after seven months of storage, and was split into four replications to obtain the working samples, where tests for germination, accelerated aging, cold test, tetrazolium and electrical conductivity were performed. Analysis of variance by the F-test indicated significant differences (P <0.05) among genotypes for all variables. Considering germination after storage, only the cultivars BMX Potência RR, BMX Energia RR and BMX Força RR could be marketed. According to the vigor tests it was shown that only BMX Potência RR had a high vigor, which concluded that the efficiency of conventional storage was dependent on the cultivar. Mechanical damage was potentially a major cause of viability and vigor loss in all cultivars, which is strongly associated with damage to the seed during harvesting and processing.