Brazil stands out in grain production, being the world's second-largest soya bean producer and the largest in Latin America. The area occupied by leguminous in the 2018/2019 harvest was 36 million hectares (CONAB, 2019). The Cerrado biome occupies about 44% of the country's agricultural area, which is responsible for 60% of total soya bean production (DICKIE, Magno, Giampietro, & Dolginow, 2016). The advance of agriculture in this biome is growing, which tends to further increase the percentage of crop production. In the Cerrado, the volume and frequency of rainfall is often fluctuating and insufficient, reducing the chances of adequate supply of the crop's water demand (Goes, Rodrigues, Arf, Arruda, & Vilela, 2011; Tardin et al., 2013). Therefore, it is common in Cerrado the soya bean crops to be subjected to drought stress conditions in their early stages, which can affect the germination process. The severity of the drought stress effect on soya bean depends on the

Seeds of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.] were submitted to different osmotic potential levels induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) with the objective of evaluating the effects of drought stress on seed germination and early seedling growth. Seeds were arranged in paper rolls and soaked in PEG solutions prepared with osmotic potentials 0.0 (control), -0.2, -0.4, and -0.8 MPa and kept into a seed germinator, at 25 °C for 18 days. A completely randomized design in a 2 × 4 factorial scheme with four replications of 50 seeds each was used. The results showed that by increasing of the osmotic potential level, germinated seed number, germination rate index, root and shoot length, shoot and root dry matter, and seedling vigor index (SVI) decreased, while mean germination time (MGT) and root: shoot ratio (RSR) increased in both crops. Additionally, the maize was more susceptible than sorghum to drought stress, with germination response declining more rapidly with decreasing osmotic potential. Sorghum crop tolerates water stress of up to -0.2 MPa, without reducing germination of the seeds; however, the growth of shoots and roots are inhibited. Drought stress limits the process of seed germination and early growth of maize seedlings.

Resumo: Estudos recentes têm abordado o uso da prática da elevada densidade de semeadura na cultura da soja. Entretanto, os resultados práticos dessa técnica são divergentes. Assim, pesquisas nesse campo são importantes para elucidar os efeitos diretos dessa prática de manejo, como, por exemplo, a interferência no uso da radiação fotossinteticamente ativa (RFA). Portanto, objetivou-se com este estudo avaliar a dinâmica da RFA em diferentes densidades de cultivo na cultura da soja. Para tanto, conduziu-se um experimento a campo com delineamento em blocos casualizados com os tratamentos distribuídos em arranjo fatorial 3 × 5: três cultivares de soja RR® (P98Y12, TMG 132 e M-Soy 9056) e cinco densidades de semeadura (20, 30, 40, 50 e 60 plantas·m -2 ) com quatro repetições.Foram avaliados massa seca da parte aérea, radiação fotossinteticamente ativa no dossel inferior (RFA-I) e superior (RFA-S), intercepção da RFA, taxa de crescimento da cultura (TCC), taxa de crescimento relativo (TCR), taxa de assimilação líquida (TAL), eficiência de uso da radiação (EUR), coeficiente de extinção luminosa (k), índice de colheita de grãos (ICG), peso de 1.000 grãos e produtividade. Independentemente do cultivar, as densidades de 20 e 30 plantas·m -2 proporcionaram os maiores valores de TAL, TCR, k, ICG e produtividade. Apenas o uso dos parâmetros EUR, TCC e RFA interceptada não fornece informações sólidas para predizer a eficiência do cultivo adensado na cultura da soja. As densidades de cultivo tradicionalmente utilizadas se sobrepõem às demais quanto à qualidade da RFA no dossel e produtividade da soja. Palavras-chave:Glycine max (L.) Merrill, coeficiente de extinção luminosa, balanço radiométrico, qualidade da radiação.

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ABSTRACT. Soybean is one of the main sources of foreign exchange credits for Brazil in the agricultural sector. There is increasing interest in growing this leguminous crop, especially in the southern region of Minas Gerais, due to its importance as an alternative for crop rotation with maize. In this respect, the study of the adaptability of new cultivars to the region is indispensable so as to obtain high yields. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of 38 soybean cultivars for growing in the summer season in the municipality of Lavras, MG, Brazil, in the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 crop years. The experiments were conducted in a randomized block design with 3 replications and the treatments consisted of 38 cultivars. At the time of harvest, the following assessments were made: grain yield (kg/ha), height of the lowest pod (cm), plant height (cm), and lodging. The data were subjected to individual and combined analysis of variance. The phenotypic mean values were clustered, adopting the Scott and Knott test. For simultaneous selection of multiple traits, the sum of rank index of Mulamba and Mock was adopted. The cultivar TMG 801 RR had the best yield performance; the cultivars Monsoy 8001, MGBR-46 8996 I.O. Soares et al. ©FUNPEC-RP www.funpecrp.com.br Genetics and Molecular Research 14 (3): 8995-9003 (2015) (Conquista), and BRSMG 68 (Vencedora) also stood out. Considering simultaneous selection for grain yield, plant height, height of the lowest pod, and lodging, the cultivar TMG 801 RR is recommended for growing in the summer season in the southern region of Minas Gerais.