Acid soil tolerance of 28 soybean varieties in hydroponics and soil-based evaluation

Abstract

Utilization of marginal soil plays important role in improving soybean production in Indonesia. Soybean breeding program targeting high yielding varieties and tolerant to acid soils is estimated to be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach in improving plant productivity on acid soil. The aim of this research was to study plant response under acid soil stress and to identify tolerant and sensitive genotype which might be useful for further breeding program. The experiment was conducted using 28 soybean varieties as genetic material. The experiment was carried out in two parts, including seedling evaluation in hydroponics and plant growth evaluation in polybag using acid soil. The first experiment was arranged in factorial randomized block design, consisting of genotype, pH, and AlCl3 treatment as the factors with 5 replications. The second experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design with 5 replications to identify the plant growth in different genotype and acid soil conditions. The results showed that the low pH and high Al inhibits seedlings root growth of soybean genotypes. The estimation of STI from root and shoot dry weight suggests Detam 1 as the most tolerant genotype followed by other varieties with lower level of tolerance. Plant response was different each genotype to both seedling evaluation in hydroponics and plant growth evaluation using acid soil.