Comparison of Two Soybean Cultivars in Dry Matter Production and Ecophysiological Characteristics

This experiment was carried out at paddy field (commercial silty loam soil) in the southwestern Korea. Pungsannamulkong, a determinate growth habit, was a relatively high yielding and late maturing cultivar, and Han­namkong, a semi determinate growth habit, was a relatively low yielding and early maturing cultivar. Seeds were sowed at two plants and with a planting density of $70{\times}10cm$ on May 26, 2003. Fertilizer was applied prior to planting at a rate of 3.0-3.0-3.4g $(N-P_2O_5-K_2O)\;per\;m^2$ by all basal fertilizations. Experimental design was a randomized complete block with three replications. Seed yield was higher in Pungsannamulkong by 362g per $m^2$ than in Hannamkong of 260g per $m^2$ Also, the number of pod, number of seed, and number of seed per pod were greater in Pungsannamulkong than in Hannamkong. The number of leaves per $m^2$ showed similar with two soybean cultivars up to August 24 but thereafter it decreased in Hannamkong. The leaf area up to August 4 increased in Hannamkong higher than in Pungsannamulkong, but after that time, Pungsannamulkong had greater leaf area than Hannamkong. The shoot and leaf dry matter of two soybean cultivars from June 23 to August 4 were similar but thereafter, Pungsannamulkong had a significantly greater than Hannamkong. Crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR) and net assimilate rate (NAR) for Punsannamulkong were relatively higher than Hannamkong but leaf area ratio (LAR) and specific leaf weight (SLW) showed higher in Hannamkong. Most of leaves distributed in the ranges of 80-90cm and 60-70cm from the soil surface in Punsannamulkong and Hannamkong, respectively. Pods of Punsannamulkong ranged 10-80cm from the soil surface and most of pods were distributed at 40-50cm. Photosynthetic rate at the flowering stage showed a significant difference between cultivars in the upper most leaf position. There was no significant difference of the photosynthetic rate at $7^{tn}$ leaf at the flowering stage, and the uppermost and 7th leaf position at the seed development stage between two soybean cultivars.