Pre-harvest Desiccation: Productivity and Physical and Physiological Inferences on Soybean Seeds During Storage

The objective of this research is to define which soybean phenological stage is adequate to promote pre-harvest desiccation and to measure the effects of this procedure on the physical and physiological attributes of soybean seeds throughout storage. The experiment was carried out at Fazenda Santa Bárbara da Boa Vista located in the municipality of Cabeceiras, Goiás, Brazil. The experimental design was the randomized blocks arranged in a factorial scheme being five phenological stages of soybean development where desiccant was applied (R5.5, R6.0, R7.1, R7.3 and R8.3) × five post-harvest storage times (0, 40, 80, 120, 160 days), arranged in four replicates. The measured characters were- Productivity, Mass of one thousand seeds, Retention of sieves 5.5 mm, 6.0 mm and 6.5 mm, Germination, Accelerated aging and Field emergence. The application of the Paraquat molecule in soybean plants in the phenological stages R5.5 and R6.0 compromises the physical attributes, mass of a thousand seeds and productivity. The germination and vigor of the soybean seeds are adversely affected due to the early desiccation of the plants, and these effects are potentiated throughout the seed storage.