Effect of different fertilizer levels and seed treatments on growth and yield of soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill)

A field experiment was conducted during kharif, 2023 at Experimental Farm, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Latur on clayey soil to study the effect of different fertilizer levels and seed treatments on growth and yield of soybean. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomised block design with two factors and replicated thrice. First factor comprises three different fertilizer levels viz. F₁-75% RDF, F₂-100% RDF and F₃-125 second factor consists of three seed treatments viz., T₁- Rhizophos, T₂- Tricoderma viride, and T₃-Biomix. The results showed that the plant height plant^-1 (48.64 cm), number of branches plant^-1(26.90), number of leaves plant^-1 (26.97), leaf area plant^-1 (6.12 dm²), total dry matter plant^-1 (25.92 g), number of pods plant^-1 (67.8), pod yield plant^-1 (23.2 g), seed yield plant^-1 (17.11g), seed yield 1778 kg ha^-1, biological yield 4072 kg ha^-1, gross monetary return (₹89344 ha^-1), net monetary return (₹38392 ha^-1) and B:C Ratio (1.75) were higher with the application of 125% RDF (F₃) which were at par with 100% RDF (F₂). Among different seed treatments application of Biomix (T₃) recorded highest value of plant height plant^-1 (50.14 cm), number of branches plant^-1(27.04), number of leaves plant^-1 (25.36), leaf area plant^-1 (5.82 dm²), total dry matter plant^-1 (27.71 g), number of pods plant^-1 (68.2), pod yield plant^-1 (23.0 g), seed yield plant^-1 (16.93 g), seed yield (1815 kg ha^-1), biological yield (4141 kg ha^-1), gross monetary return (₹91204 ha^-1), net monetary return (₹41441 ha^-1) and B:C Ratio (1.83) compared to other treatments.