## 2 Material and Methods
### Cropping Practice  
The twenty non-GMO soybean (_Glycinia_ max (L.) Merrill) cultivars, originating from the EU common catalogue of agricultural cultivars (CCA) or from the Polish catalogue ([[https://coboru.gov.pl](https://coboru.gov.pl)]([https://coboru.gov.pl](https://coboru.gov.pl)), accessed on 29 July 2022), were chosen for the investigation. The relative maturity of cultivars is classified according to both EU and Polish catalogues as very early type (0000), named here as the 1 st group-3 cultivars, mid-early type (000+), named as the 2 nd group-3 cultivars, late early type (000), named as the 3 rd group-5 cultivars, late type (00), named as the 4 th group-9 cultivars (Table 2). Cultivar selection was justified by the region's climatic conditions and by the breeder recommendation, so soybeans should be harvested no later than October 10 th. The duration of the period from souring to harvest when soybean reaches the full maturity stage (BBCH 89) is written here as VPD (vegetation period in days). Each cultivar has the same VPD range as it obtained in the years of study. The propagation material was treated with nodulating bacteria (_Bradyrhizobium \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Site**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Latitude**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Longitude**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Particles (\%)**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Texture**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**N 1**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**P**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**K**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**OM**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**pH**} \\ \cline{3-3} \cline{5-10}  & & & & **Sand** & & & & & & \\ \hline Mochelek & \(53^{\circ}20^{\prime}\) N & \(17^{\circ}86^{\prime}\) E & 84.7 & 14.3 & 1.1 & Loamy sand & 0.17 & 238 & 216 & 1.8 & 6.6 \\ Minikowo & \(52^{\circ}21^{\prime}\) N & \(16^{\circ}56^{\prime}\) E & 80.5 & 17.6 & 1.9 & Loamy sand & 0.45 & 185 & 235 & 1.6 & 6.9 \\ Grocholin & \(52^{\circ}99^{\prime}\) N & \(17^{\circ}42^{\prime}\) E & 56.0 & 23.0 & 21.0 & Sandy (clay) loam & 0.70 & 182 & 197 & 1.2 & 6.2 \\ Rakowo & \(53^{\circ}52^{\prime}\) N & \(19^{\circ}20^{\prime}\) E & 64.1 & 33.5 & 2.4 & Sandy loam & 0.12 & 158 & 196 & 1.4 & 6.8 \\ Witrogoszcz & \(53^{\circ}15^{\prime}\) N & \(17^{\circ}15^{\prime}\) E & 82.7 & 15.5 & 2.8 & Loamy Sand & 0.54 & 178 & 216 & 1.4 & 6.7 \\ Jedrzejewo & \(52^{\circ}51^{\prime}\) N & \(16^{\circ}36^{\prime}\) E & 58.5 & 35.6 & 5.9 & Sandy loam & 0.32 & 167 & 234 & 2.2 & 6.8 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* N—nitrogen (%), P—phosphorus (mg kg\({}^{-1}\)), K—potassium (mg kg\({}^{-1}\)), OM—organic matter (%).  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Coordinates and soil characteristics of the study sites. _japonic_) NPPL HiStick(r) BASF. Soybean was grown in an integrated system without monocultural practices and with chemical products used for macrophage control. The most frequent fore-crops were small cereal species (wheat, barley, and triticale) and corn (Table 3). Two different soil practices were used in the study. Soil cultivation based on plow tillage at three sites (Mochelek, Minikowo and Grocholin), e.g., skimming and harrowing, (in order: autumn: plowing; spring: harrowing, NPK application, cultivation with harrowing, seeding, harrowing). A no-tillage system was used in three other locations (Jedrzejewo, Rakowo and Witrogoszcz) using a stubble cultivator: grubber and cage roller instead of skimming and cultivating instead of autumn plowing); in the spring, the same agronomic operations were carried out as under the plow tillage system. Mineral fertilization was applied before seeding at the following rates: N 30 kg ha\({}^{-1}\), P 40-75 kg ha\({}^{-1}\), K 60-80 kg ha\({}^{-1}\). Fertilizer rates were determined based on the nutritional requirements of the crop plant and soil nutrient availability. The dates of sowing were between 30 April in Grocholin in 2019 and 9 May in Rakowo in 2018.