Agronomic aspects of soybean plants subjected to deficit irrigation

This study aimed to evaluate the behavior of soybean plants subjected to irrigation management with controlled water deficits in different phenological stages. The research was conducted in an experimental area of the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT), in Palmas-TO, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks with four replicates, and treatments arranged in a split-plot scheme. The plots consisted of irrigation levels that induced plants to water deficit in the vegetative stage, reproductive stage and throughout the entire cycle, based on potential crop evapotranspiration (ETpc). The subplots corresponded to two soybean cultivars (M9144RR and TMG1288RR). The following agronomic variables were evaluated: days until flowering, days until maturation, plant height, first pod height, number of pods per plant, stem diameter, leaf area and yield. Irrigation management with moderate water deficit, 50% of ETpc, in the vegetative stage, promoted the best agronomic characteristics and contributed to increase the yield of the evaluated soybean cultivars, especially M9144RR.