Field Evaluation of Six Newly Introduced Soybean Varieties in the National Pulses Program Germplasm, Kongo Central Province

Aim: To evaluate the behavior of soybean varieties recently introduced in germplasm of National Pulses Program of National Institute for Agricultural Study and Research.

Study Design: The study was conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with six treatments replicated three times.

Place and Duration of the Study: The experiment was carried out at the Lieutenant-Colonel EBEYA Military Camp, precisely in the POUDRIERE site in LOMA district from April 14 to June 17, 2023.

Methodology: The study was conducted with six soybean varieties replicated three times. Data collected concerned percentage of seedlings emerged, vegetative development and production parameters.

Results: The emerged plants rate varies from 82.6 to 90%, collar diameter from 4.3 to 6.4mm, and plant height from 27.9 to 51.3 cm. The leaflet number per plant varies from 18.3 to 32, while their length and width varied from 6 to 9.4cm, and from 10.5 to 17.7cm, respectively. On each plant, the number of branches bearing pods varied from 3.6 to 5. The number of pods and seed per plant varied from 18 to 37, and from 34.3 to 68, respectively. Overall, soybean varieties flowered on 34.4 to 68 DAS. The 100-seed weight varied from 8 to 15.3g, and yield obtained from 572.9 to 2,203kg/ha.

Conclusion: Overall, the results of this study indicate that vegetative development and production parameters vary among varieties. This variability in behavior results from the interactions between intrinsic properties of each soybean variety and agroenvironmental conditions of experimental field. The yields obtained were lower than the global average. However, variety TGM 0169 considered late, had high emerged plants rate (90%), and yielded more than 2t/ha, which is far higher than the average recorded in the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries. Ultimately, TGM 0162 appeared as elite variety whatever parameter considered.