Comparative yield and chemical composition of soybean and fababean grown on chernozemic soils on the Canadian prairies

Abstract

Abstract Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) and fababean (Vicar faba (L.)) were grown under field conditions on six Orthic Black Chernozemic soils over three years at two levels of fertility. At flowering, full pod and maturity the yield and N, P, K and S composition of harvested plant materials were compared. Application of fertilizer (P, K and S) increased dry matter and seed yields of both crops. At all, growth stages fababeans produced more dry matter than soybean, and at maturity produced higher yields of seed, hull and stalk. However, the ratio of seed: hull: stalk for both crops was similar and constant at 3.8: 1: 4.7 on all soils and at both levels of soil fertility. At the high level of soil fertility, at the flowering and full pod stages, the concentration of N, P, and K in fababean was higher than that in soybean, but both crops had a similar concentration of S. At low fertility both crops had similar concentrations of P, K and S. At maturity, soybean seed had the higher concentrations of the f...