The Impact of fertilisation, seed treatment, and meteorological conditions on soybean yield in the right-Bank Forest-Steppe

To determine the impact of variations in primary fertilisation, foliar feeding with organo-mineral fertilisers during critical periods of soybean plant development, pre-sowing seed treatment with mycorrhiza-forming biopreparations, as well as mycorrhiza-formers in combination with a fungicide, and the meteorological conditions of the research years on soybean yield formation. Methods. Field (for studying the interaction of the research object with biotic and abiotic factors); morphophysiological (for biological monitoring of productivity elements development through stages of organogenesis); statistical (statistical processing of research results), analysis of variance (to determine the influence of factors on soybean yield formation); correlation (to establish the direction and strength of correlation relationships of soybean seed yield with weather conditions); regression (to construct curvilinear models of soybean seed yield dependence on agrometeorological conditions). Results. The article presents the research findings regarding the impact of the studied agricultural practices and cultivation technology on the soybean yield level. Equations of yield dependency on the amount of precipitation and average daily air temperatures during the vegetation periods of the research years have been calculated. Conclusions. In the current agricultural conditions, to achieve maximum seed yield, the cultivation technology must include agricultural measures aimed at meeting the biological needs of the plant throughout the vegetative period and reducing the impact of adverse external factors. For forming the yield of ‘Muza’ variety soybean seeds, optimal conditions were established under a cultivation technology that included applying N15P45K60+N30, pre-sowing seed treatment with a mycorrhiza-former combined with a fungicide, and foliar feeding with organo-mineral fertilizer during the bud formation phase when the formation of flowers, pods, and seeds in the pod occurs. The combination of these agricultural measures resulted in a yield of 3.74 t/ha compared to the control yield of 2.98 t/ha. The coefficients of significance of deviations from the long-term weather conditions during the vegetation periods of soy were presented. The dependence of yield on the amount of precipitation and average daily air temperatures during the crop’s vegetative periods was analysed.