Bradyrhizobium Inoculation has a Greater Effect on Soybean Growth, Production and Yield Quality in Organic than Conventional Farming Systems
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Date
2021
Authors
Gitonga, Nicholas Mawira
Njeru, Ezekiel Mugendi
Cheruiyot, Richard
Maingi, John M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Cogent OA,
Abstract
Globally, organic farming and bradyrhizobia inoculation are gaining
popularity as agronomically and environmentally sound soil management strategies
with great potential to alleviate declining soil fertility, maintain environmental
quality and enhance soybean production. However, the role of bradyrhizobia in
organic farming system is poorly understood. Field experiment was conducted to
evaluate the effects of bradyrhizobia inoculation and organic farming on growth
parameters and yield quality of soybean varieties: SC squire, SB19 and Gazelle. The
experimental treatments included native bradyrhizobia, commercial Bradyrhizobium
japonicum, mixture of native + commercial bradyrhizobia and uninoculated control.
The experimental design was a split-split plot, with three replications. The results
demonstrated significant improvement in soybean nodule dry weight (NDW), shoot
dry weight (SDW) and seed dry weight (SEDW) following bradyrhizobia inoculation.
Remarkably, organic farming significantly out-performed conventional systems in
nodulation, SDW and SEDW. Moreover, seed nutrient content differed depending on
farming system; where nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic carbon were
higher in organic farming. Soybean varieties differed significantly on SDW, NDW and
SEDW; where SC squire performed better than SB19 and Gazelle. The results
demonstrate the importance of organic farming and bradyrhizobia inoculation in
enhancing soil fertility, yield production and quality, a key step towards sustainable
food production.
Description
article
Keywords
Nitrogen fixation, promiscuous, nodulation, soil fertility, organic fertilizer public
Citation
Nicholas Mawira Gitonga, Ezekiel Mugendi Njeru, Richard Cheruiyot & John M. Maingi | (2021) Bradyrhizobium inoculation has a greater effect on soybean growth, production and yield quality in organic than conventional farming systems, Cogent Food & Agriculture, 7:1, 1935529, DOI: 10.1080/23311932.2021.1935529