Abstract            Volume:9  Issue-8  Year-2021         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

A field experiment was conducted at Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC) during 2017/18 growing season to study the effect of inoculation of Bradyrhizobium strain and sulfur fertilization on nodulation, grain and straw yields of soybean. The experiment consisted of four levels of S (0, 20, 30 and 40 kgha^-1) and three Bradyrhizobium strains (MAR-1495, SB-12 and Murdock) arranged factorially in completely randomized block design (RCBD) with three replications. Grain and straw yield increased by inoculation of Bradyrhizobium strain whether used alone or in combination with S. Nodulation, parameters (nodule number per plant and nodule dry weight) and number of pods per plant were highly significantly influenced by interaction effect of Bradyrhizobium inoculation strains in combination with sulfur fertilization. The yield and yield components namely (grain yield, hundred seed weight, biomass yield and harvest index) were highly significantly (P <0.01) affected by individual application of sulfur and inoculation of Bradyrhizobium strains alone. Accordingly, the highest grain yield (1496.35 kg ha^-1) was obtained from application of S at a rate of 30 kg ha^-1 corresponding 30.96% yield advantages compared with control and 1548.55 kg ha^-1grain yield was recorded due to inoculation with Murdock strain corresponding to 30.32% increase over MAR-1495 strain. The results clearly suggested that proper application of S along with Bradyrhizobium strain affect nodulation, grain and straw yield of soybean.

Download this article as