Article Sidebar
Published:
Dec 31, 2020Keywords:
Article Details
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.
Main Article Content
GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSE OF SCREENED SOYBEAN (Glycine max L. MERRILL) GENOTYPES TO FERTILIZATION AND RHIZOBIA INOCULANTION IN NORTHERN GHANA
Abstract
Soybean remains an important crop for the sustenance of livelihoods of resource-constrained farmers in northern
Ghana. However, yield of the crop has continuously remained low due to poor soil fertility and low productivity.
A two-phase experiment was carried out during the 2019 cropping season to evaluate the growth and yield
response of screened soybean genotypes to nitrogen, phosphorus and rhizobia inoculation. In the first phase,
growth and yield of 100 selected genotypes were evaluated under optimum phosphorus fertilization using the
lattice design. In the second phase, 3 best performing genotypes (N19, N119, N135), selected in phase one
together with a known variety (Jenguma) were accessed for growth and yield under phosphorus, nitrogen and
inoculants using a 4 (genotype) x 7 (nutrient regime) split plot design. The nutrient regimes were sole triple super
phosphate (TSP), sole inoculant, sole booster nitrogen, TSP + booster nitrogen, TSP + inoculant, TSP + booster
nitrogen + inoculant and a control (no fertilizer). Each treatment was replicated three times. Data collected were
subjected to analysis of variance and means separated at 5% probability using the least significant difference.
Results show a significant (P = 0.032) interaction effect between genotype and nutrient regime on grain yield.
Jenguma, treated with TSP + inoculant recorded the highest yield of 4 t/ha, followed by Jenguma variety treated
with TSP + inoculant + booster nitrogen (3.9 t/ha), and genotype (N135) treated with TSP + nitrogen (3.7 t/ha),
while genotype (N19) without treatment (control) recorded the least grain yield. The high yield obtained for
inclusion of P, N and inoculants exceeded what is documented for northern Ghana (1.5 t/ha). Therefore, it is
recommended for farmers to include P, booster N and inoculants in cultivation of the Jenguma variety, and N135
genotype. Based on economic cost analyses, farmers stand to achieve higher profit upon application of sole TSP.
