EFFECT OF SOIL CONDITIONER ON YIELD AND QUALITY OF ORGANIC SOYBEAN

We studied the effect of a soil conditioner on the yield and quality components of organic soybean. The study object was the cultivar Galina, maturity group 0. Experiments in four replications were performed in a field of Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Backi Petrovac using organic farming methods. The experiments included two variants: an untreated variant (control) and a fertilized variant (applying Fertdolomit, a commercial soil conditioner). The following soybean characteristics were analyzed: grain yield (kg/ha), protein and oil contents (%), yields of total proteins and oil (kg/ha), and their correlations. Extremely high yields of soybean were achieved. The average soybean yield was 5732 kg/ha. The yield in the treated variant was higher by 256 kg/ha or 4.57% than that in the control. The control and the treated variant showed no statistically significant differences in the protein and oil contents. The yields of protein and oil were higher in the treated variant than in the control by 4.67% and 5.85%, respectively. The correlation analysis showed that the variables were mutually dependable. Highly significant positive correlations were found between grain yield and oil content, grain yield and protein yield and between grain yield and oil yield. Negative and nonsignificant correlations were found between grain yield and protein content and between oil content and protein content in soybean grains. Soil conditioning showed to be a feasible method of improving grain yield and protein and oil yields of organic soybean.