Growth and yield responses of soybean to planting density in late planting.

Soybean is one of the important food crop around the world. Especially in East Asia, it is the main ingredient for traditional food like soy sauce and soy paste. The double cropping system including soybean following onion, Chinese cabbage, and potato is widely adopted in Southern region of Korea. In this system, sowing date of second crop (soybean) can be delayed depending on first crops' growth period and weather condition. When planting date is delayed it is known that soybean yield is declined because of shorter vegetative growth period and earlier flowering induced by warm temperature and changes in photoperiod. The objective of this study was to determine soybean growth and yield responses as plant populations at late planting date. Field experiment was conducted at Department of Functional Crop, National Institute of Crop Science, RDA located in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-Do for two years ('13-'14) in upland field with mid-late maturity cultivar Daewon. A split-plot block design was used with three replications. Main plots were three sowing dates from June 20 to July 20 with 15 days intervals, and subplots were 4 levels of planting densities. Data of maturity (R8) was recorded, yield components and yield were examined after harvesting. Experimental data were analyzed by using PROC GLM, and DMRT were used for mean comparison. Optimum planting population for maximizing soybean yield in late planting which compared with standard population. In mid-June planting, higher planting density causes increased plant height and decreased diameter which lead to higher risk of lodging, however, reduced growth period due to late planting alleviated this problem. Therefore higher seeding rates can provide protection against low seedling emergence caused by late planting in this region.