Eeffect of biofertilizers and foliar application of organic acids on yield, nutrient uptake and soil microbial activity in soybean

Abstract

A field experiment was undertaken during kharif 2012 to study effect of biofertilizers and foliar application of organic acids on yield, nutrient uptake and microbial activity of soybean at MARS, Dharwad under rainfed condition. The experiment was laid out in RCBD factorial having twenty treatment combinations and replicated thrice. The treatments comprised of four P-Solubilizers (PSB, VAM, PSB + VAM and Control) and five foliar spray of organic acids (Humic acid, Lecithin, Citric acid, Maleic acid and control). The results revealed that higher seed yield of soybean (35.96 q ha-1) was obtained with the treatment combination of dual inoculation of PSB+VAM with foliar spray of 0.1% humic acid at flower initiation and was higher to an extent 22.5 per cent compared to control (27.90 q ha-1). Similar trend was observed on microbial activity and nutrient uptake (N, P2 O5 and K2O) of the soybean crop.