Comparative analysis on the agronomic traits of soybean cultivars in different maturity groups from Jilin Province

The maturity period is an important character of soybean and has great influence on other agronomic traits.The differences and relationship of 94 soybean cultivars released in recent years were analyzed in 2013 and 2014 by using correlation and gray correlation analysis methods.The main results showed that from MG0 to MG Ⅲ, the R1, R7 and R8 stages were all delayed.The variable coefficient of different growth periods was vegetative stage > reproductive stage> the whole growth period, and the reproductive stage was positively correlated with the whole growth period.Correlations among different agronomic traits showed that plant height could be reduced while the number of branches could be increased for MG0 varieties in the process of selection; Increasing plant height, node number and branch number can increase the yield in MGⅠ varieties.Branch numbercould be considered as a selection indicator for MGⅡ varieties.Increasing plant height and number of main stem nodes with fewer branches maybe important to improve yield potential in MG Ⅲ.Gray correlation analysis found that the similar results that seed number per plant was closely associated with seed weight per plant among MG0, MGⅠand MGⅡ.