Nutrient Management for Soybean Crops

Soybean is one of the most important pulse crops in the world which supplies most of the protein and oil requirements. The efficient production of soybean crops is a constraint, with several biotic factors, abiotic factors, and crop management practices. Nutrient management is one of the important aspects for achieving higher production of crops. Effective nutrient management helps to assure the required nutrients needed for the plant without causing a significant decrease in the yield of crops. In addition to this, managing the nutrient efficiently helps the crop to cope with several types of biotic and abiotic stress. For soybean crop, altogether fifteen nutrients are needed, which comprises six macronutrients, namely, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, which are required relatively in large amounts, and nine micronutrients which include iron, boron, zinc, cobalt, copper, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, and chlorine. These nutrients can be supplied to the plants through soil incorporation or foliar spray of commercially available fertilizers. Nutrient requirements for soybean crops vary in concentration, and deviations can cause nutrient deficiency or toxicity in soybean crops. Nutrient availability to soybean crops depends on the available nutrients in the soil solution, the form of available soil nutrients, mode of uptake of nutrients, its interaction with other soil nutrients, soil chemistry, and method of fertilizer application. This review article explores essential nutrients for sustainable soybean production in relation to the role and functions of nutrients, required concentration, and visual syndrome shown during deficiency, including findings from several researches. The review article is aimed to guide soybean farmers for effective nutrient management and academicians in reviewing the literature in soybean nutrient management.