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Tillage Effects on Soybean Nodulation, N 2 (C 2 H 4 ) Fixation, and Seed Yield 1
Author(s) -
Lindemann W. C.,
Randall G. W.,
Ham G. E.
Publication year - 1982
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 - 10.2134/agronj1982.00021962007400060032x
Subject(s) - tillage , agronomy , loam , conventional tillage , yield (engineering) , biology , soil water , physics , ecology , thermodynamics
Previously, tillage has been shown to affect the yield of soybeans in southern Minnesota. The objective of this study was to determine if different tillage treatments also affected soybean nodulation and N 2 (C 2 H 4 ) fixation. Six tillage treatments were sampled in 1975, 1976, and 1977 for nodulation and acetylene reduction activity. The six tillage treatments were part of a 12 tillage treatment experiment established in 1973 under a corn‐soybean rotation system on a Webster clay loam soil (fine‐loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Haplaquoll). Yield was significantly affected by tillage treatment with the yield of the no‐till treatment averaging 22% less than the other five tillage treatments. Few differences were noted in nodule number, nodule weight, or total acetylene reduction activity with respect to tillage treatment. Fall tillage tended to increase nodulation and acetylene reduction over spring tillage, but differences were small. Yield differences due to tillage practice were not attributed to changes in the N 2 ‐fixation system of soybeans.