Effect of alum and humic acid application on growth, yield and quality of soybean (Glycine max L.) under inceptisol

A field experiment was conducted in kharif season during 2023-24 at College of agriculture, Badnapur to study the effect of alum and humic acid application on growth, yield and quality of soybean (Glycine max L.). The field trial was carried out in Randomized Block Design with eight treatments (T₁) Control, (T₂) RDF, (T₃) RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1, (T₄) RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1+ alum @ 5 kg ha^-1,(T₅) RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1+ alum @ 10 kg ha^-1, (T₆) RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1+ alum @ 15 kg ha^-1, (T₇) 75% RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1+ alum @ 5 kg ha^-1 and (T₈) 75% RDF +humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1+ alum @10 kg ha^-1 with three replications. The findings derived from the field investigation clearly indicated that the significantly highest plant height (58.37cm) at harvest, maximum dry matter plant^-1,no. of pods plant^-1 (70.40), grain and stover yield (2131.10 and 2983.54 kg ha^-1) were recorded in treatment (T₄) RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1 + alum @ 5 kg ha^-1. In the context of grain quality, the findings indicated that higher protein content (39.42%) and test weight (14.60 g) were also found in the same treatment i.e. (T₄) RDF + humic acid @ 10 kg ha^-1 + alum @ 5 kg ha^-1.