Cultivar and Agronomic Management Affect Recovery and Yield of Flooded Soybean in Mississippi.

Flooding is a major obstacle for soybean production in the Mississippi Delta. One management practice that soybean producers use to mitigate the effects of flooding is planting soybeans on raised beds. Soybean breeding programs in the Mississippi Delta have also focused on developing flood tolerant soybean cultivars to assist producers in managing flooding stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of raised beds for flooding management and compare the tolerance of six soybean cultivars under flooded conditions at different growth stages and flood durations. Treatments consisted of a factorial arrangement of 6 cultivars, (two commercial, two flood tolerant, two susceptible), two flood timings (V4 and R1), two flood durations (24 and 72 hours) in the presence or absence of raised beds. Gas exchange measurements were taken immediately after floods were drained and 14 DAT. Injury ratings were taken 7 DAT and recovery ratings were taken 14 DAT. Seed yield and quality was determined at harvest. Results from the 2017 growing season will be discussed.