Agronomic performance of 20 soybean recommended varieties in Korea

A total of 20 soybean recommended varieties which were developed until late 1980's in Korea was evaluated at Suwon. Comprehensive evaluation and correlation analysis were conducted on the agronomic characters. Great variations were found in these genotypes for branch number, pod number, and grain yield per plant. The variation in number of pods/plant ranged from 53 to 164, and in grain yield from 25.9 to 68.8 g. The coefficient of variation for most of the characters had a wide range. In correlation coefficient, grain yield per plant showed a positive phenotypic association with weight of pods, pod number of branches, and weight of stem. Multiple regression analysis was done to formulate selection criteria. It indicated that stout and medium-stature genotypes with more branches, resulting in varieties with more pods per plant but with medium-size seeds are available to obtain high-yielding varieties.