Effect of soil applied organic amendments and microbial inoculant on the improvement of growth and yield of soybean (<em>Glycine max</em> L.)

Abstract

The usage of organic amendments and microbial inoculant together can be a reliable solution to avoid soil heavy metal pollution and to increase crop production in sustainable farming. This study was done to determine the effectiveness of organic amendments and Bradyrhizobium sp. in improving soybean (Glycine max L.) growth and yield. Control (T1) and the other seven treatments were comprised as, field soil + compost (15% by weight) (T2), field soil + wood biochar (15% by weight) (T3), field soil + synthetic chemical fertilizer [0.01 kg m–2 urea, 0.01 kg m–2 P2O5 (triple super phosphate) and 0.008 kg m–2 K2O (muriate of potash)] (T4), field soil + Bradyrhizobium inoculum. (108 CFU ml-1) (T5), field soil + compost (15% by weight) + Bradyrhizobium inoculum (108 CFU ml-1) (T6), field soil + wood biochar (15% by weight) + Bradyrhizobium inoculum. (108 CFU ml-1) (T7), field soil + synthetic chemical fertilizer (111.5 kg N ha–1, 111.5 kg P ha–1, and 82.9 kg K ha–1) + Bradyrhizobium inoculum. (108 CFU ml-1) (T8), The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized block design with ten replicates. In wood biochar amendment together with Bradyrhizobium sp. inoculation significantly (p