Influence of Foliar Application of Compost tea on Growth, Yield and Quality of Soybean [Glycine max (L)]

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during kharif season of the year 2016-17 with soybean variety MAUS -71 as test crop in Vertisol. With three replication and eight treatments viz,T1 - Control (RDF 100%), T2-100% RDF + Water spray, T3 - RDF + Compost tea @ 10% foliar spray, T4 - RDF + Compost tea @ 15% foliar spray, T5-RDF + Compost tea @ 20% foliar spray, T6 - RDF + Compost tea @ 25% foliar spray, T7 - RDF + Compost tea @ 50% foliar spray,T8 - RDF + Compost tea @ 75% foliar spray. The results revealed that Among the different doses of foliar application of compost tea with RDF,” application of RDF + compost tea @ 50% foliar spray significantly superior growth attributes viz. plant height, leaf area, number of leaves, dry matter and minimum growth attributes were observed in the control treatment at flowering, pod development and  harvest stage. Maximum yield of soybean (2050.0 kg ha-1) was recorded with application of  RDF + Compost tea @ 50% foliar spray. The quality of soybean grain improved due to application of T7 - RDF+ compost tea @ 50% foliar spray which recorded higher values of oil content (19.90%) protein content (31.44%) and protein yield (644.29 kg ha-1).This indicated that the application of 30:60:30 kg ha-1 N : P2O5 : K2O with foliar application of compost tea @ 50 percent (30,45,60 DAS) to soybean was found beneficial for increase in growth, yield and quality of soybean.