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Short‐season soybean yield and protein unresponsive to starter nitrogen fertilizer
Author(s) -
Brar Navneet,
Lawley Yvonne
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.1002/agj2.20378
Subject(s) - starter , sowing , agronomy , fertilizer , growing season , nitrogen , cultivar , yield (engineering) , field experiment , biomass (ecology) , nitrogen fixation , urea , biology , chemistry , food science , materials science , biochemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy
The Canadian Prairies have become the new northern edge for soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production in North America. In this short growing season production area, it has been speculated that application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer at planting could increase soybean growth, yield, and grain protein. To test this hypothesis, field experiments were conducted to determine if starter N fertilizer rates of 0, 17, 34, 50, 67, and 84 kg N ha −1 applied as broadcast and incorporated urea before planting would have an effect on biomass, yield, grain protein and oil, and biological N fixation (BNF) for a Maturity Group 00 soybean cultivar grown in Manitoba, Canada. There was no yield response to starter N fertilizer in 2 of the 3 yr of the study. There were no differences in biomass, grain protein, or oil content in response to starter N fertilizer. Nitrogen uptake at the full bloom stage (R2) increased at the highest N rate tested. Percent BNF as measured by relative ureide N (RUN) content in the N fertilized treatments was reduced in 2 of 3 yr relative to the control. The contributions of BNF, soil N, and fertilizer N to total crop uptake was influenced by growing conditions during the study period. The results of this study do not support the recommendation that starter N fertilizer be used as a way to increase soybean yield and grain protein in the short season soybean production areas of the Canadian Prairies.