Growth and production of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merill) with different fertilizer strategies in a tidal soil from South Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

The efforts to improve soybean growth and production in tidal lands include applying lime, supplying some nutrients, and using improved varieties. The objective of this study was to find the effect of lime and NK fertilizer application for soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merill) growth in tidal land. The research was conducted at the greenhouse of the Agriculture Faculty of Sriwijaya University. The pot experiments used a complete randomized design arranged factorially with two factors. The first factor was six levels of lime (i.e., 0 ton ha-1, 0.81 tons ha-1, 1.63 tons ha-1, 2.45 tons ha-1, 3.26 tons ha-1, and 4.07 tons ha-1),and the second factor was two levels of fertilizer (i.e., site-specific fertilizer and fertilizer calculated based on FAO criteria) and fertilizer recommended by South Sumatera Agricultural Research. Each treatment combination was made of three replications; the total number of treatment pots was 36. The measured variables were plant height, number of pods, number of nonempty pods, number of seeds, weight of 100 seeds, and production. The results showed that liming significantly increased plant height, total number of pods, number of nonempty pods, number of seeds, weight of 100 seeds, and soybean production, while fertilizer did not significantly affect all variables. The interaction between fertilizer and lime significantly affected plant height and the weight of 100 seeds. Lime application of 3.26 tons ha-1 gave the highest yield on lime treatment only with production at 2.853 tons ha-1 compared to other treatments.