The evaluation of the root system is important for better understanding the effects of nutrient management on soil and plant nutri-tion. However, root system studies and culture are slow and show low accuracy. In this context, digital image processing may be an alternative. The objective of this research was to develop a computational method to assist evaluation of the soybean root growth. Initially, the free and open access software, available at: http://rm.deinfo.uepg.br/, was developed in

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... a platform with the OpenCV library supply through the plug-in JavaCV. To evaluate the software, copper wires with 10 mm, 20 mm, and 50 mm of length manually measured using callipers. They were scanned with a resolution of 300 dpi and then images were loaded in the software. Variation coefficients between 0.01 and 2.99 % were obtained. Subsequently, the samples of soybean roots were scanned and the results of developed software and Safira software were correlated with those from the line-intersect method. The determination coefficients (R² = 0.999) of the developed software, on average, were better than those obtained with Safira software (R² = 0.733), when compar-ing with the line-intersect method. Therefore, the proposed method was accurate for length measurements of soybean roots.