Optimum Sowing Time and Suitable Cultivars for Seed Quality Parameters of Soybean (Glycine max L.) during Off-Season in Northern Telangana Zone

Aims: To identify the optimum sowing time and suitable varieties of soybean for quality of soybean during the off-season in the Northern Telangana Agroclimatic zone of Telangana state in India. Study Design: Strip plot design with three replications. Place and Duration of Study: The Regional Sugarcane and Rice Research Station, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Rudrur, Nizamabad District, Telangana state, India, between October 2022 and June 2023. Methodology: The field experiment was conducted in medium clay loam soil under irrigated condition. The experiment was laid out in strip plot design with three varieties viz., JS 335 (V1), ASB 22 (V2) and KDS 726 (V3) as horizontal strips and nine dates of sowings (16 days interval) viz., 3 Oct (D1), 19 Oct (D2), 3 Nov (D3), 19 Nov (D4), 3 Dec (D5) 19 Dec (D6), 3 Jan (D7), 19 Jan (D8) and 3 Feb (D9) as vertical strips, replicated thrice. The seeds were sown by dibbling at 5 cm apart within the row and rows were space at 45 cm apart. Standard recommended package of practice of kharif season suggested by PJTSAU was followed. The data on seed quality parameters were recorded by placing 100 seeds of 3 replications in paper towels and field. Results: The results of the experiment revealed that, the seeds of cv. JS 335 and cv. KDS 726 collected from D2 recorded the highest values of germination %, seed vigour index-I and seed vigour index-II which was tested at 1 week after harvest, 1 month after harvest and in June month. Whereas, the seeds of cv. ASB 22 in D1 maintained higher germination%, seed vigour index-I and seed vigour index-II across the time interval of testing from 1 week after harvest to June month. The field emergence test in June month results showed that, the seeds of cv. JS 335, ASB 22 and KDS 726 produced with 3 Jan, 3 Nov and 19 Nov sowings, respectively recorded highest number of seed emergence at 3rd, 4th, 7th and 14th day of count. Conclusion: The soybean cv. ASB 22 sown in the first week of Oct was found to be suitable for producing high quality seeds during the off season.