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Soybean production
What are the factors of affecting soybean production?
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9 Replies
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climate and gene counts
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claimate,fertilizer and pest
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Thanks everyone.
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353 million tonnes
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Pest and disease
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Factors that significantly influence soybean production are the amount of use of NPK fertilizer, other fertilizers, liquid pesticides, hired human labor, and the area of cultivated land.
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Several factors affect soybean production, and they can be grouped into environmental, agricultural, and economic factors. Here are some of the key factors:
1. Climate and Weather Conditions
Temperature: Soybeans require warm temperatures for optimal growth. Extreme heat or frost during the growing season can damage the crop.
Rainfall: Adequate rainfall is essential, especially during the flowering and pod development stages. Too little or excessive rainfall can reduce yield.
Humidity: High humidity levels can promote fungal diseases, while too little can stress the plants.
2. Soil Quality and Fertility
Soil Type: Soybeans thrive in well-drained, loamy soil with good structure and nutrient-holding capacity.
Soil pH: Soybeans prefer slightly acidic to neutral soils (pH 6.0 to 7.0).
Nutrient Availability: Adequate levels of essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are crucial for growth. Soybeans also benefit from their ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing their dependency on synthetic fertilizers.
3. Pests and Diseases
Insects: Soybean aphids, rootworms, and caterpillars can damage plants, reducing yield.
Fungal and Bacterial Diseases: Common diseases like soybean rust, Phytophthora root rot, and white mold can lead to significant losses.
Weeds: Competition from weeds for nutrients, light, and space can lower soybean yield. Effective weed management is essential.
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Generally factors affecting soybean production can be classified into two as provided below, it’s from one research carried out.
Happy reading!
Abiotic Stress
Climate change is a major threat to soybean and other food crop production in Nigeria. Nigeria farmers are solely dependent on rainfed agriculture which makes the effects of climate change such as rise in temperature, flooding or shortage of water, the emergence of new pests and diseases, and so on devastating (Tologbonse et al., 2010). Evidence of climate change in Nigeria includes flooding on coastlines, reduced harmattan season duration in some locations from five months (November to March) to two months (December to January), and low crop yield (Sambo, 2010). Summarily, climate change is responsible for the shift in agroecological zones of Nigeria (Audu et al., 2013).
The duration and volume of rainfall reduce as we move northward in the production region (Bebeley et al., 2022). Guinea savannah agroecology of Nigeria is characterized by high sunshine during crop maturity with harmattan wind which aids pod-shattering causing about 80% of losses that affect soybean production (Tefera et al., 2009).
Insect pests found predominant in soybean farms of Guinea savanna Nigeria include Aphis glycines (Hemiptera), beetles (Coleoptera), and more insects belonging to the order Hymenoptera and Orthoptera (Asala et al., 2016). Foliage feeding insect pests such as aphids, bugs, and beetle inflict serious damage on soybean plants. They physiologically stress soybean through the sucking of saps and transmission of plant viruses. Common insect pests of the Sudan savanna are Nezara viridula (Hemiptera) a podsucking bug; defoliating beetles Coleoptera such as Siderodactylus sagitarius Meigen, and Egadroma discriminatum Basi (Sastawa et al. 2004). The pod-sucking bugs are attracted to the flowering stage of soybean with an effect of seed quality reduction. In the month of July, the insect pest population is greatest (Asala et al., 2016). The activities and population of insect pests on soybean fields are dependent on the prevailing weather, variety of soybean cultivated, and population of natural enemies. To date, information on the impact of this pest on soybean production in Nigeria is lacking. This information on estimated crop losses due to insect pest damage is crucial to justify an appropriate management strategy (Sastawa et al., 2004).
In most Nigerian soybean fields, the observed premature defoliation is caused by bacterial pustule (Akeem, 1996). Frogeye leaf spot is another important disease of soybean foliage in Nigeria which can also infect the seeds, pods, and stems (Akeem, 1996). Soybean rust is a foliar disease caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi responsible for 40-80% yield loss in Nigeria and other African soybean- producing countries hence, a threat to soybean production (Tefera et al., 2009). In Oniyo, Oyo state Nigeria was soybean rust first identified in 1999 during the core soybean growing season (Akinsanmi et al., 2001). Soybean rust is predominant in derived savanna and southern Guinea savanna zones of Nigeria due to high rainfall and humidity (Dugje et al., 2009). It causes a change in immature soybean leaf color to brown followed by a fall off. Root-knot nematode in soybean growing regions of Nigeria affects production (Iheukwuemere, 1996).
Weeds around soybean fields are reservoirs of plant viruses affecting soybean production (Ahmed et al., 2019). Soybean mosaic virus and Blackeye cowpea mosaic virus are important viruses that affect production in soybean growing regions of Nigeria (Iheukwuemere, 1996;Adama et al., 2015).
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