ABSTRACT

Soybean (Glycine max. L Merri) is an economically important annual leguminous crop widely cultivated for its edible seeds. Although soybeans are grown worldwide, individual cultivars demonstrate a limited adaptation to specific geographical areas. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the agronomic performance of different soybean cultivars. The treatments included thirty-two soybean cultivars that were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed marked varietal differences on vegetative growth, yield components and quality traits. Soybean cultivar DM5351RSF had greater average yield (4.9 tons/ha) and differed significantly (P<0.05) to RA5722BR which recorded lower  average yield (2.8 tons/ha). Soybean grain oil and protein concentrations were more affected by cultivar effect where cultivar Y657 and DM5351RSF exhibited high protein (40.43 %) and oil content (23.26 %) respectively. The performance of individual soybean plants represents the genetic potential in vegetative, yield and grain quality parameters of the cultivars under study.