Enhancement of the Productivity of Soybean in Malawi through Foliar Application of Nutrients

Abstract

In Malawi, inoculating soybean with rhizobia, has been advocated for decades as a way of boosting productivity through enhancement of biological nitrogen fixation. The effectiveness of this strategy however, has been constrained by the low soil fertility status of soils in Malawi, necessitating the use of mineral fertilizer to supply nutrients to the soybean for increased productivity. Alternative strategies like foliar feeding of nutrients to improve grain yields are yet to be widely promoted due to lack of research evidence. Therefore experiments involving the soybean were conducted during the 2016/17 cropping season, laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated four times, at Bvumbwe, Bembeke and Chitala in Malawi to evaluate yields response to foliar feeding using a foliar fertilizer (Allwin-legumes). Agronomic data were analyzed in Genstat Discovery Edition 4 and were subjected to analysis of variance at 95% level of confidence. Means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD0.05). Generally, the result indicate that foliar feeding produced significantly higher (p<0.05) grain yields ranging from 33.7-364.7%, above the control across the different agro-ecological zones. The result underscores the importance of judicious and methodical application of nutrients to soybean under the changing climate and conditions of low soil fertility. In general, foliar feeding using Allwin fertilizer particularly when conducted twice can increase significantly soybean productivity in Malawi. The grain yields increase is attributable to the enhanced crop growth and development through foliar supply of nutrients.