Effect of soybean inoculation on grain yield in Ohio

摘要

Seven years of evaluation in Ohio indicate that soybean inoculation is a very profitable practice. Although the results have not always been positive, 49 field trials and more than 2,600 research plots planted to inoculated soybeans have shown an average profit of 400 percent or better. When the cost for inoculants is taken into account, a yield increase of one-half bushel per acre (30 pounds of grain) is profitable, and yield increases of two to seven bushels per acre have been common. Between 1995and 2001, the number of acres planted to inoculated soybean seed in Ohio increased from a few thousand to nearly 2.5 million acres. The primary reason for this rapid growth is the profitability associated with inoculated seed. The Ohio State Universityhas conducted tests in fields in corn-soybean rotations, and that are characterized by good fertility and appropriate soil pH. One would expect either very low or no response to inoculation where these conditions exist.