Influence of Herbicides Application as Desiccant on Protein and Sugar Content of Soybean Seed

Abstract

Soybean, Glycine max is an annual crop belonging to the family Fabaceae, which has 40% protein, 20% oiland 30% carbohydrate and plays a very significant role in world agriculture. Some farmers hasten the maturity and desiccation of soybean crop by applying herbicides without giving attention to the effects on seed. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of herbicides as desiccant on protein and sugar content of soybean seed. For this, three cultivars of soybean seed SB 19, SB 25 and SB 3 were planted and applied with three types of herbicides Glyphosate, Paraquat, 2,4-D. The herbicides were sprayed at three stages of soybean seed development R6, R7, and R8. The herbicides effect was highly significant (P ≤ 0.001) on the protein content in two locations and were highly significantly different (P ≤ 0.001) on the sugar content in all locations. All the herbicides showed reduction in sugar content in all locations and were also lower in protein content as compared to the control. It is concluded that using herbicides as desiccant have negative effect on the protein and sugar content of soybean seed