Soybean

Varieties

• Hardee Erect growing with duration of 90-95 days white pods, yielding 20-25q ha-1.
• JS 335 Duration 90 days, yield potential 20-25q ha-1. Tolerant to leaf curl virus.
• MACS 201 Duration 80-85 days with an average yield of 20-25q ha-1.
• JS 80-21 Yields up to 20q ha-1.
• PK 1029 Tolerant to leaf curl virus. Yield potential 20-25 q ha-1.
• MACS 58 Tall, erect cultivar of 90-100 days duration yielding 20-25q ha-1.
• MACS 124 Tall variety of 100-110 days duration with bigger pods and seed, yielding 20-25 q ha-1.
• MACS 450 Short early type (80 days) with bold pods and seeds, cluster bearing of white pods and high yielder.
• LSB-1 Short, very early (65 days), suitable for intercropping in cotton in light soils of low rainfall areas.
• JS 335 Tolerant to leaf curl virus.
• PK 471 Erect with white flowers having duration of 90-100 days and yield of 18-20q ha-1.
• PK 472 White flowers and yellow seeds, maturing in 105 days with an average yield of 20q ha^-1.

Seeds and seeding

• Sow the crop in June-July during kharif in October for Rabi and January for summer using a seed rate of 50-60 kg ha^-1.
• A spacing of 30x7.5cm for red soils and 45x5cm for black soils is adequate.
• Treat the seed with Rhizobium japanicum before sowing. Seeds are to be treated with captan or thiram @ 3g kg^-1 of seed or carbosulfan @ 30g/kg. Sowing to a depth of 2-3 cm only with optimum moisture ensures germination. Deep sowing should be avoided.

Fertilisers

• Apply 30 N + 60 P₂O₅ + 40K₂O kg ha^-1.
• If inoculated with Rhizobium and 60-90N & 60 P₂O₅ + 40K₂O kg ha^-1 if not inoculated.
• Use of sulphur containing fertilisers and FYM should be encouraged. Treat the seed with Rhizobium japanicum invariaby for better establishment and root nodulation and high yield.

Weed Management

• Keep the crop free from weeds up to 35 DAS with 1-2 hoeings.
• Immediately after sowing or the next day, spray pendimethalin 3.5-5.0 l/ha (or) spray Lasso @ 2.0 L ha^-1.

Irrigation

• Usually, soybean is a rainfed crop of vertisols and comes up well with the stored soil moisture.
• However, irrigation is, necessary for the crop in light soils, especially at pre-flowering and pod filling stages, which are sensitive to soil moisture stress.

Pest Mangement

• Stem fly : Spray monocrotophos 0.4kg a.i ha^-1 or acephate @ 0.3 kg a.i ha^-1.
• Leaf folder/ webber and Spodoptera exigua: Methyl parathion 0.5kg a.i ha^-1 or quinalphos 0.25 kg a.i ha^-1 or acephate 0.3kg a.i ha^-1.
• Gram caterpillar : Quinalphos 0.25kg a.i ha^-1 or chlorpyriphos 0.3 kg a.i ha^-1.
• Pod borers including : Spodoptera : Collection and destruction of egg masses and skeletonized leaves. Need based spray with quinalphos @ 2.5ml l^-1 or chlorpyriphos @ 2.5 ml l^-1 of water.
• White fly : Triazophos @ 2.5ml l-1 of water or neem oil formulation @ 1.25 /ha-1.
• Jassids : Monocrotophos @ 1.6ml l-1 of water.
• Thrips : Acephate @ 1g l^-1 of water.

Disease Management

• Cercospora leaf spot : Spray mancozeb 2.5g l-1 of water or carbendazim @ 1g l-1.
• Alternaria leaf blight : Seed treatment with captan or thiram @ 3g kg-1 of seed. Spray mancozeb @ 2.5g or carbendazim @ 1g l-1 of water.
• Rust : Mancozeb @ 3g + dinocap @ 1g l-1 of water for 2-3 times a weekly intervals.
• Bacterial leaf spot : Spray paushamycin @ 1.5g + copper oxychloride @ 15g in 10 l of water for two-three times at 10days interval.
• Mosaic : Acephate @ 1.5g l-1 of water to check the vector.
• YMV : Triazophos @ 0.2kg a.i ha-1 or dimethoate @ 2.0ml l-1 of water to check whitefly.
• Powdery mildew : Spray wettable sulphur @ 3g l-1 or carbendazim @ 1.0g l-1 twice at 10 days interval starting from the first symptom appearance.

Harvesting

• The crop is harvested when majority of leaves have become golden yellow and ready to fall and the lower pods are yellowish and dry,
• seed is to be dried properly to a moisture level of 11-12% before stage.

Recommendations

• Select varieties such as JS 335, MACS 450, PK 1029 tolerant to leaf curl virus (bud necrosis) disease which has become a majro production constraint in soybean during Kharif season.
• Grow soybean varieties PK 1029, MACS 450, JS 335 as intercrop in pigeonpea (90-100 days) (1:7 or 2:6) and cotton (1:2) in black soils.
• Grow short duration soybean variety LSB1 (65-70 days) as intercrop in cotton (1:2) in light soils and low rainfall areas.
• Under delayed sowings in Kharif, soybean performs better than greengram and blackgram (July end to August sowings).

Rhizobial Inoculation

Appropriate species of bacterium as indicated below has to be used :

Host crop Rhizobium species

• NC 92, Tel 1371 strains are specific to Kadiri 3 and JL 24, Tel 1000 strain to TPT 1 groundnut varieties.
• Use the culture before the date of expiry.
• Prepare 800 ml of 5% jaggery solution (5g in 100ml water) to which 200g of Rhizobial culture is mixed thoroughly. This 800 ml is sufficient to treat 100kg of seed.
• Spread the inoculum evenly and gently mix with seed. Dry the seeds under shade.
• If fungicides like mancozeb are used for seed treatment, treat the seed with fungicide in advance and inoculate the seed before sowing.
• Granular inoculation can also be done. Mix 200g inoculum with 1.5 L of methylcellulose. To this mixture add 15kg sand and apply in furrows before sowing.
• Alternatevely, 500g of inoculum can be mixed with fully decomposed compost (not partially decomposed) and applied in plough furrows before sowing.

Top