Enhancing Soybean (Glycine max L.) Performance Using Interactions among Agronomic Inputs
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Soybean performance has been investigated through the effects of cultivar, cultivar maturity group (MG), plant population (POP), pre-plant nitrogen (N) and foliar fungicide (F), but interactions amongst them are not understood. The objective of this study was to investigate soybean performance through an intensification of inputs in strategic management systems. Two field studies were conducted across four location-years at Ilderton and Ridgetown, ON in 2011 and 2012, investigating the interactions amongst cultivar, MG (full-season vs. full-season +0.5 MG or “long-season”), POP (standard population vs. standard+50%), N (none vs. 50 kg N ha-1), F (none vs. azoxystrobin + propiconazole applied at R3), seed treatment (none vs. thiamethoxam + metalaxyl-M + fludioxonil + inoculant), and foliar fertilizer (none vs. application at R3). There were few interactions amongst MG, POP, N, and F on seed yield. Long-season cultivars had higher lodging scores compared to full-season cultivars, especially with N and F application. Cultivar-specific responses to intensification of inputs were inconsistent across locations-years. Increasing POP, applying N, seed treatment, and foliar fertilizers did not increase yield across all location-years. Long-season cultivars increased yield by 0.20 to 0.23 Mg ha-1 compared to full-season cultivars and F increased yields by 0.14 to 0.21 Mg ha-1.