Effect of foliar nutrition on productivity and profitability of soybean (Glycine max)

A field experiment was conducted during the rainy (kharif) season of 2015 at Raipur to evaluate the effect of foliar nutrition on productivity and profitability of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] under Vertisols of Chhattisgarh plains. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with 3 replications. The results revealed that application of recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) + spray of diammonium phosphate (DAP) @ 2% at pod-initiation stage of crop growth resulted significantly higher number of pods/plant (68), number of seeds/pods (3.02), seed index and higher grain yield (2.16 t/ha) compared to the application of RDF + water spray and RDF. The foliar application of RDF + spray of DAP @ 2% resulted in significantly higher net returns of 60, 279, with benefit: cost ratio of 3.07.