Organic soybean production in Hungary

Abstract

Organic soy production, particularly for feedstuff in organic animal husbandry, is needed in Hungary and the EU regions. Soybean producing crop area in Hungary has increased in the last years, however, the agroecological potential would allow for a larger soybean production area. This study presents the soybean market in Hungary, and the role of soybeans in protein supply in food and feed, summarising the critical elements of organic soybean production from variety selection to marketing. During the field research, the effects of the agronomical environment on yield potential factors were examined. We aimed to determine how different row spacing and tillage systems affect organic soybean yields of different varieties, with particular attention to the dry region, and determine the specific methods and varieties of soybean that favour these areas. We found that the tillage (plough/grubber), the spacing (wide/narrow), and the variety effects were all significant on morphological variables. The most remarkable difference was seen in plant height and the number of pods per plant, while the number of nodes was also highly impacted by tillage treatment and variety. The nutrition variables were significantly different, mainly as an effect of tillage and spacing interaction with significantly different plant responses of varieties.