What are the precautions for saving soybean seeds? Latest key points explained

Soybean is a self-pollinating crop, so seeds can be saved from your own harvest. If you buy seeds for planting every year, the planting cost becomes too high for farmers to bear. However, there are also many issues to pay attention to when saving seeds. Let's take a look together below.

1. Do not save seeds for many years

Many farmers save seeds for many years during soybean cultivation. Although this lowers the planting cost, many farmers also find that the yield gets worse year after year. This is caused by saving seeds for many years. Saving seeds continuously for many years will cause variety aging, variety mixing, seed trait degeneration, and reduced stress resistance, ultimately leading to reduced yield. Therefore, self-saved seeds must be renewed regularly to ensure seed quality. Generally, seeds need to be purchased again every 2-3 years, so as to ensure stable yield.

2. Choose varieties suitable for the local area

When purchasing varieties, many farmers like full-season varieties. But once a low-temperature year occurs, it will cause major losses. Therefore, excellent varieties should be selected according to the local climate and environment, and introduction should be based on the year-round accumulated temperature. What suits you is the most important.

3. Purification and rejuvenation

The field used for seed saving must be cleaned of impurities and inferior plants. Commodity soybeans cannot simply be screened and then used as seeds, as the quality of such seeds cannot be guaranteed. Plants with different flower colors should be removed, and according to differences in leaf type, pod setting, and growth form, weak, diseased, and mixed plants should be removed in time, and plants with higher purity, vigor, and uniformity should be selected for seed saving. After maturity, cut or pull up the seed plants with roots and air-dry them, keep the plants for after-ripening, and thresh after the busy farming season has passed. The advantage of keeping the plants for after-ripening is that it helps the accumulation of nutrients in the seeds. It is a storage method that protects seed vigor. The seeds are protected by pod shells on the outside, which can buffer changes in seed moisture.

The above is an introduction to the precautions for saving soybean seeds. We hope it helps you. To learn more related knowledge, please continue to follow us.