In Japan, soybeans are generally cultivated in paddy fields which often have poor drainage. West of the Kanto region, the seeds are sown in the rainy season. Therefore, the seedling establishment is prone to damage by the rain after sowing. The generation of sulfide ions in flooded and reduced soil is thought to be one factor causing this flooding damage. Since molybdate ions suppress the generation of sulfide ions, the effect of coating soybean seeds with molybdenum compounds, on the seedling establishment under a flooded condition was examined. Soybean seeds were coated with several kinds of poorly-soluble molybdenum compounds at different concentrations. The coated seeds were sown in soil and then flooded for 3 d at 25 – 30oC. Seedlings were not established from seeds not coated with molybdenum compounds. Seedling establishment was appreciably improved by coating the seeds with a molybdenum compound at the rate of 0.5 – 1 mol-Mo kg–1 seed. Seedling establishment was especially improved by coating with molybdenum trioxide. Accordingly, coating the soybean seed with molybdenum compounds could mitigate the flooding damage occurring after sowing.
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