Response of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) varieties to various plant spacing in kharif season on growth attributes and yield of soybean

An experiment entitled “Response of Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) varieties to various plant spacing in kharif season on growth attributes and yield of soybean” was conducted at P.G. Research Farm, Agronomy Section, RCSM College of Agriculture, Kolhapur during the kharif season of 2023 to evaluate effect of soybean varieties and various plant spacing on growth attributes and yield of soybean. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. Twelve treatment combinations include: four varieties V₁ (Phule Sangam), V₂ (Phule Kimaya), V₃ (Phule Durva) and V₄ (Phule Kalyani) and three plant spacing S₁ (45 cm x 10 cm), S₂ (60 cm x 10 cm) and S₃ (75 cm x 10 cm). The obtained result showed that the variety Phule Sangam at 75 days after sowing recorded higher growth attributing characters viz., plant height (52.06 cm), number of branches plant^-1 (6.01), number of functional leaves plant^-1 (35.32), leaf area plant^-1 (30.03 dm²), dry matter plant^-1 (36.94 g) and yield parameters viz., seed yield (29.34 q ha^-1), straw yield (40.27 q ha^-1) and harvest index (42.14%) followed by variety Phule Kimaya. Among the plant spacings S₁ (45 cm x 10 cm) gave significantly superior in plant height (50.33 cm) and the plant spacing S₃ (75 cm x 10 cm) yielded the best results for growth parameters like number of branches plant^-1 (5.66), number of functional leaves plant^-1 (34.01), leaf area plant^-1 (29.26 dm²) and dry matter production plant^-1 (36.31 g). Whereas significantly superior seed yield (28.75 q ha^-1), straw yield (39.75 q ha^-1) and harvest index (41.93%) was observed at a plant spacing of 45 cm x 10 cm against other plant spacing. Interaction effect between variety Phule Sangam and spacing 45 cm x 10 cm was found significant superior in seed yield and straw yield than rest of all interaction combinations.