The objective of this study was to compare tests used to identify vigor in soybean seeds and to establish a model that relates the seeds' vigor, as determined in the laboratory, with field emergence. Five soybean cultivars were evaluated based on their germination, sand emergence, immersion in sodium hypochlorite, accelerated aging, controlled deterioration, cold test, seedling growth, electrical conductivity, tetrazolium, emergence percentage, seedling length in the field and seedling dry weight. The experimental design was completely randomized and means were compared by the Tukey test at 5% probability. Assays for accelerated aging, controlled deterioration and tetrazolium showed the closest correlation to field emergence. The regression model included the sand emergence speed, germination speed index and index of sand emergence speed as the variables that best correlated with field emergence.
germination; seeds quality; regression model
