Abstract
The trial was carried out in the period 2007-2010 at the experimental field of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, Serbia. Study was based on applied different fertilizer doses (mineral fertilizers and harvest residues of the previous crop). Trial variants were arranged in a randomized block design and they included: 0 kg N ha-1 without ploughing under crop residues; 0 kg N ha-1 + crop residues; 50 kg N ha-1 + crop residues; 150 kg N ha-1 + crop residues; 250 kg N ha-1 + crop residues. There were two trial sub-variants with and without soybean seed inoculation within each variant. Seed of soybean cultivar Proteinka (maturity group 0) was inoculated directly before planting, using microbial fertilizer NS-Nitragin containing a mixture of selected highly effective Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains. Seed inoculation produced statistically highly significant yield increases in all four trial years, while the variants with higher doses of nitrogen applied under a preceding crop showed increases in mineral nitrogen uptake from the soil without adequate increases in soybean yield. The application of microbial fertilizers and ploughing under crop residues evidently ensured high yields of soybean, even with reduced doses of nitrogen fertilizer applied to a preceding crop.
Highlights
As the world human population continues to increase, the demands placed on agriculture to supply future food and fibre needs will be one of the greatest challenges facing the agricultural community
In the growing season of 2009 temperatures were higher than the long-term average and the precipitation sum was less compared to long-term average, with uneven distribution, and the soybean yield was 3,473 kg ha-1
Soybean seed inoculation before planting was found to be an acceptable cultivation practice. It tends to increase soybean yield, regardless of the amount of N applied under the preceding crop, and it enhances positive effects of ploughing under crop residues
Summary
As the world human population continues to increase, the demands placed on agriculture to supply future food and fibre needs will be one of the greatest challenges facing the agricultural community. To meet this challenge, a great deal of effort focusing on the soil biological system and the agro-ecosystem as a whole is needed for better understanding complex processes and interactions governing the stability of agricultural land, large increases of energy inputs, in terms of mechanization, irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide use (Schreiner & Bethlenfalvay 1995). Cvijanović Megatrend University, Faculty for Biofarming, 39 Maršala Tita, 24300 Bačka Topola, Serbia
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