Does a Soybean Intercrop Increase Nodule Number, N Uptake and Grain Yield of the Followed Main Crop Soybean?

Anne Porte, Guido Lux, Sylwia Lewandowska, Marcin Kozak, Jörg Feller and Knut Schmidtke
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Anne Porte: Faculty of Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry, Dresden University of Applied Science, Pillnitzer Platz 2, 01326 Dresden, Germany
Guido Lux: Faculty of Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry, Dresden University of Applied Science, Pillnitzer Platz 2, 01326 Dresden, Germany
Sylwia Lewandowska: Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 24A, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland
Marcin Kozak: Institute of Agroecology and Plant Production, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 24A, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland
Jörg Feller: Faculty of Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry, Dresden University of Applied Science, Pillnitzer Platz 2, 01326 Dresden, Germany
Knut Schmidtke: Faculty of Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry, Dresden University of Applied Science, Pillnitzer Platz 2, 01326 Dresden, Germany

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: It is not known whether seed inoculated soybean intercropping can increase the number of nodules, nitrogen uptake and yield of the subsequent main crop, soybean. For this reason, the soybean intercropping approach, sole or mixed cropping with buckwheat, was adopted to examine the influence of inoculation and intercropping of soybean and buckwheat on the subsequent main crop, soybean. Field trials were conducted from 2016 to 2019 in Germany and Poland. For this purpose, soils on which soybeans had not been grown in the past were selected as experimental plots and laid out in a split-plot design. It was surprising that even without inoculation a nodule growth could be documented. However, intercrop inoculation resulted in an average of 12 times more nodules per plant at four out of five sites. In addition, a 43% higher number of nodules was found on the lateral roots of the main soybean crop when intercropping with inoculated soybean occurred. The influence of the intercrop on the main crop soybean also depended on their growth in late summer and autumn. Further, there was a medium relationship (R = 0.7) between the number of nodules in the intercrop soybean and the nitrogen content of the soybean grain in the main crop. In terms of soybean grain yield, a single inoculation of the intermediate soybean crop contributed an average of 5% higher yield and inoculation of both the intercrops, and the main crop improved yield by 15%.

Keywords: Glycine max (L.) Merr .; intercropping; inoculation; soybean/buckwheat; nodules; nitrogen content; sulfur content (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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