EFFECT OF FERTILIZER ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF SOYBEAN (Glycine max L.) VARIETIES

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field of Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University, Dhaka-1207 during the period from August, 2006 to study the responses of soybean varieties to different doses of fertilizer. The experiment was carried out with three soybean varieties viz. Shohagh. Bangladesh soybean-4 and kARl soybean-5 and four levels of fertilizer viz, no fertilizer, half of the recommended dose, recommended dose and double of the recommended dose. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with three replications. The results showed that variety and fertilizer dose signifleantly influenced the growth, development. yield characters and yield of the soybean. Among three varieties, Bangladesh soybcan-4 had maximum plant height, dry matter, number of branches plani', pod length, number of pod plant" number of seeds pod'. seed yield, stover yield, biological yield and harvest index. Fertilizer at recommended dose significantly increased yield with higher values of harvest index as the yield attributes like pods plant", seed pod" and 1000-seed weight were higher. In most of the cases Bangladesh soybean-4 coupled with fertilizer at recommended dose was found to influence yield but double of the recommended dose was found to be associated with better growth. The highest seed yield (2683.0 kg ha") was found with the interaction of Bangladesh soybean-4 with fertilizer at recommended dose. This was achieved due to maximum number of pod plant" (41.67), number of seed pod" (2.04) and greater pod length (3.60).