The trial was carried out at the Carillanca Exp. Sta. (INIA, Temuco; lat. 38º 41' S, long. 72º 25’ W), during the 1984/85 and 1985/86 seasons, using the cv. Araucana-INIA. Lodging was induced at the early pod formation and at the mid-pod filling stages. As control, plants were artificially maintained in upright position. Populations ranging from 44 to 310-318 plants/m2 were imposed to each treatment. Independently of plant population, lodging significantly reduced seed yield in both seasons, and no differences between lodging periods were found. In average, yield losses attributed to lodging were 16.5% (1984/85) and 13.8% (1985/86), and they were explained by a signficant reduction in mean seed weight, and mainly, in the number of seeds/m2. |