Effects of Liming on Acid Soil to Improve Growth and Yield in Soybean (Glycine max L. Merill)

Abstract

Soil acidity limits crop productivity and affects food security, household income as well as the environment. Given the consequences of soil acidity, appropriate measures such as sustainable use of agricultural lime could be an option to enhance the productive capacity of acid soils. The study was conducted to assess the growth, yield, and yield components of soybean response to liming in acid soil. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot with four replications at the Crop Museum, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania. Three soybean varieties (Bossier, Laela, and Uyole soya-1) were used as the main plot, and four levels of lime (L0:0, L1:1560; L2:936, and L3:624 kg/ha) were used in the subplot. The analysis of variance revealed that the variety Uyole soya-1 had the highest average number of filled pods per plant, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, and 100 seed weight. The variety Laela had the highest grain yield (kg/ha) of all the varieties used in the study. The results also showed that the application of 1560 kg/ha of lime in acid soil raised the soil pH from 5.0 to 6.5 thus having a significant influence on growth, yield and yield components.