Influence of Cropping System Intensity on Dry Matter Yield and Nitrogen Concentration in Different Parts of Soybean Plant

Two-year investigations were conducted within the three-year maize-soybean-wheat crop rotation with the aim to assess the influence of two cropping systems, conditionally marked as high-input and reduced-input systems, on soybean dry matter yield and nitrogen concentration in its different plant parts. The high-input system was characterized by: ploughing at 30-32 cm, fertilization with 80 kg N and 130 P2O5 and K2O kg ha-1, weed control based on oxasulfuron and, if required, a corrective treatment with propachizafop and bentazone. The reduced-input system involved: ploughing at 20-22 cm, fertilization with a total of 40 kg N and 130 kg P2O5 and K2O kg ha-1, and only oxasulfuron-based weed control. Investigations involved two soybean genotypes: L 940596 and L 910631, vegetation group I. An identical monofactorial trial with four replications was set up in each cropping system. Cropping system intensity had a positive effect on leaf and stem dry matter mass in 2002, and on leaf and stem nitrogen concentration, whereas it had no effect on pod dry matter, seed yield and seed nitrogen concentrations in either year. The highest leaf dry matter was recorded in R4 development stage and that of stem and pod without seeds in R7 development stage. In both trial years, the highest nitrogen concentrations in leaf and stem were recorded in R1 development stage. In both trial years, higher pod nitrogen concentration was achieved in R4 development stage than in the R7 stage