Yield and Quality of Two Soybean Cultivars in Response to Drought and N Fertilization

Abstract

Applying mineral fertilizers is one way of re-fertilizing soils being exploited in agricultural production. However, fertilization quantity should be controlled and pre-evaluated, as excessive amounts have negative influence on both the plants and the soil. Drought stress has negative effects on both the quantity (yield) and the quality (seed content) of crops, especially drought-sensitive crops such as soybean; however, fertilization, if adequately applied, can partially ameliorate those negative effects. An experiment was conducted in Debrecen, Hungary in 2017 and 2018 to study the effects of nitrogen fertilization application under drought stress on the yield and the seed protein and oil concentrations of two soybean cultivars. Three N fertilization rates; 0, 35 and 105 kg ha^-1 were applied under two irrigation regimes; Irrigated (control) and drought stressed (non-irrigated) regimes. Results showed that yield trait responded differently to fertilization and irrigation in the two cultivars. Protein concentration was enhanced by irrigation and by the high rate of N-fertilizer, whereas oil concentration decreased by irrigation and by high-rate fertilization under drought conditions, whereas increased by high-rate fertilization under irrigated regime. It was concluded that high rate of N-fertilizer can decrease the yield of both cultivars under no-drought conditions.

Keywords

• irrigation; nitrogen; oil; protein; soybean

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