Effect of Seeds Bio-inoculation and Nitrogen Fertilization Levels on Yield and Its Components of Three Soybean Cultivars

Hemeid, Mona Mohamed

doi:10.21608/asejaiqjsae.2025.454873

Effect of Seeds Bio-inoculation and Nitrogen Fertilization Levels on Yield and Its Components of Three Soybean Cultivars

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mona Mohamed Hemeid

Alexandria university, agriculture faculty

10.21608/asejaiqjsae.2025.454873

Abstract

Two field experiments were conducted at the Agriculture Research Station, Alexandria University, Egypt, in 2022 and 2023, to clarify the effect of seed bio-inoculation (without and with) and three levels of nitrogen fertilization 48, 96 and 144 kg N/ha on yield and its components of three soybean cultivars, i.e. Giza 35, Giza 111 and Giza 83. Obtained results showed a significant three-way interaction among the studied factors for most traits measured in both seasons, harvest index in the first season only and number of branches/plant in the second season only. Plants fertilized with the 144 kg N/ha or 96 kg N/ha with bio-inoculation of seeds gave the highest significant values for the studied traits. Also, Giza 35 cultivar was the most responsive. However, the least significantly values of the studied traits were obtained from Giza 83 cultivar fertilized with 48 kg N/ha without seed bio-inoculation. Conversely harvest index trait showed an opposite trend to the other traits, as increasing the nitrogen fertilization level led to a decrease in the harvest index, while decreasing the nitrogen level without or with seed bio-inoculation gave the highest harvest index in the first season. Therefore, it was concluded that under the conditions of this study, bio-inoculation of seeds with non-symbiotic atmospheric nitrogen-fixing bacteria maximizes the benefit from nitrogen fertilizer and saving of about 33% (48 kg N/ha) of mineral nitrogen fertilizer from the recommended amount in the absence of root nodules.

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