The influence of mineral fertilizers and biopreparation on growth and development of soybean plants
Authors:   Vinnytsia National Agrarian University, Tsyhanska O. I. 
Published: January 2022

The soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important food plants of the world, and seems to be growing in importance. It is an annual crop, fairly easy to grow, that produces more protein and oil per unit of land than almost any other crop. It is a versatile food plant that, used in its various forms, is capable of supplying most nutrients. It can substitute for meat and to some extent for milk. It is a crop capable of reducing protein malnutrition. In addition, soybeans are a source of high value animal feed. Nevertheless, the soybean is adapted primarily to the Temperate Zone. Each improved variety has an adaptation determined in large part by latitude. Soybean requires careful home processing to bring out its best qualities, and if not well prepared, it has an off-flavor that is seldom appreciated Soybeans need to be inoculated with a particular strain of Rhizobium fungus before planting. This fungus fixes nitrogen (i. e. takes elemental nitrogen from the air and adds it to the soil in a form that the soybean plant can use). However, if soybeans are planted in a field that contained soybeans as a previous crop, they may not require inoculation because the Rhizobium will still be in the soil. If soybeans are not grown in association with Rhizobium, they will grow more slowly, require nitrogen fertilizer, and yield less. Rhizobium inoculum must be fresh (viable) and is usually purchased with the seed. If Rhizobium inoculum is not available in a particular area, and soybeans are not now being grown, it may be difficult to produce this crop. Soybeans need fertilizer, including both the macronutrients phosphorous and potassium (P and K) and sometimes micronutrients. Nitrogen is not required if soybeans are properly inoculated. Soybeans need rather large amounts of phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. Minor elements are sometimes required. Soybeans cannot be recommended for unfertilized soils. For optimum soybean yield, it is necessary to use both biological N2-fixation and nitrogen uptake by soybean roots. Nitrogen fertilizer applied to soybean is based on the plant nitrogen needs during seedling development prior to nodule formation that is crucial to the growth and development of soybean As with all crops, soybean yield is the result of the net accumulation of organic compounds assimilated through photosynthesis. Research on soybean photosynthesis conducted during the 1950’s and 1960’s found that several cultivars grown at that time became light saturated. However, much of those data were collected from plants grown in a greenhouse or other artificial environment. Much of the information on the response of soybean photosynthesis to changing light levels however is dated, having been published prior to 1985, with cultivars that are no longer in production, using less portable and sophisticated instrumentation than is now available. In the article are presented results of researching peculiarities of growth development and formation of soybean photosynthetic productivity depending on weather conditions, level of mineral fertilization and different application methods of biological product on the chelate form under conditions of the Right-bank Forest-Steppe. It is established that a systematic approach to soybean nutrition, namely its cultivation on the background of optimal doses of mineral fertilizers N30P45K45 and the use of biological product Organic-Balance for seed treatment in combination with foliar feeding creates the best conditions for growth, development and preservation of maximum plants full ripeness, which is the basis for obtaining high grain yields.