Planting Densities and Forms of Potassium Fertilization in the Development of Edamame (Glycine max (L.) Merril) Cultivation

Abstract

The edamame is the soybean harvested in the R6 phenological period when the seed in green. That is the reason of its name, Green Soybean. To evaluate the influence of different planting densities and two types of potassium fertilizer on the agronomic components of the edamame cultivar BR 9452273, an experiment was conducted in the municipality of Boa Vista-RR between early 2015 and March 2016. The experimental design was a complete randomized block design in a 4 × 2 factorial scheme with four plant densities (140, 160, 200 and 240 thousand plants ha-1) and two forms of potassium fertilization in the last split-application (potassium chloride-KCl (control) and a Leaf fertilizer-K-20) on the same concentration (30 kg ha-1) for both treatments, with three replicates. Plant cultivation variables were evaluated, as well aspod productivity and the reproductive and maturation periods of the plants. Based on the results obtained, the BR-9452273 edamame lineage showed early growth and maturation under local edaphoclimatic conditions, with reproductive and maturation periods of 24 and 73 days after planting, respectively. Plant height and the insertion of the first pod, the diameter of the stem, and pod number in a sample of 500 g were affected by the joint action of the evaluated factors. Green pod yield and total biomass were favored by both higher and lower density, which alongside the application of KCl, were the most effective treatments for production of edamame in the Cerrado of Roraima.