Yield per plant and other characteristics of soybean plants treated with kinetin and potassium nitrate

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of kinetin and potassium nitrate applied to leaves, at the R3 phenological phase, on some agronomic characteristics of soybean plants and their yield per plant in the field. The experiment was carried out in Itutinga, MG, using five kinetin concentrations (0, 250, 500, 750 and 1.000 mg kinetin ha-1) combined with four potassium nitrate concentrations (0, 5, 10 and 15 kg ha-1) in a factorial scheme using a randomized block experimental design, with three replications. The positioning of numbers of pods per plant was evaluated in three positions in the canopy: lower, middle and upper. The application of potassium nitrate did not influence the studied characteristics. Kinetin increased the total set pod number by 27.4% in contrast to the control, mainly in the lower and middle thirds of the canopy. The kinetin increased the pod set number up to 20.7%, in the middle third. The yield per plant was increased up to 27.1% using the highest kinetin concentration. The increases were attributed to an increase in the endogenous cytokinin levels that contribute to the higher production and better redistribution of assimilates to the pods and seeds.