Plowsole Placement of Fertilizer for Soybeans and Response to Tillage of Plowsole1

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In Virginia, most of the soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] are grown on the light‐textured soils of the Coastal Plain. Because of tillage operations, a traffic pan has developed over the years in some of these soils. This pan may reduce water infiltration and root penetration with a subsequent reduction in crop yields. During droughty periods, the traffic pan may be beneficial by reducing the percolation rate of water through the rooting zone. At any rate, the effect of the pan on soybean production is unknown and should be investigated. Also, the effect of incorporating P and K into the traffic pan on the production of soybeans should be determined.In order to evaluate the importance of the traffic pan in soybean production, an experiment was conducted for 6 consecutive years on Sassafras sandy loam (Typic Hapludults; fine‐loamy siliceous, mesic) at Warsaw, Va. Comparisons were made of rates of P, K, and/or lime tilled and not tilled into the traffic pan after the surface 15‐cm soil layer had been removed.Tillage of the plow sole increased plant height in 1 year, reduced it in 2 years, but the average heights for 6 years with and without tillage were identical. Tillage did not affect maturity but increased yields in 1 of 6 years. Soybean seed weight, shattering, and pod and stem blight were unaffected by tillage but purple seed stain was increased by tillage.Fertility treatments had a significant effect on plant height, maturity, yield, seed size, disease, and shattering.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: