Effect of Foliar Supplementation of Nitrogen and Zinc on Soybean (Glycine max. L.) Yield, Quality and Nutrient Uptake

A field experiment was conducted to find out the effect of foliar nutrition at different growth stages on soybean (Glycine max. L) yield and quality during rabi 2010–2011 at Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh. Ten treatment combinations consisting of foliar application of N and Zn at two different stages (pod development, flowering stage) along with control were replicated thrice in a randomized block design. Yield and yield attributes, quality parameters and nutrient uptake of soybean were significantly influenced by foliar application of nutrients at different stages of crop. An increment of 50, 27.2 and 56.9% was noticed in 100 seed weight, number of pods/plant and grain yield, respectively with 2% urea as foliar application at flowering and at early pod development stage, when compared with control. Higher protein and oil contents (43.9 and 20.9%) and uptake of Zn, N by soybean plants were recorded with the 2% urea as foliar application at flowering and at early pod development stage. Foliar spraying with 2% urea at flowering and at early pod development in addition to soil application of NPK fertilizer was found to be more beneficial to improve the productivity of soybean than NPK application alone.