Effect of lime application on soil physicochemical characteristics and plant nutrient contents of three soybean cultivars [Glycine max (L.) Merril] in coastal plain sands of Nigeria

Abstract

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merril] is one of the ost important legume crops. Soybeans have become one the strategic commodities after rice and corn.  Experiment was carried out in 2012 and 2013 planting seasons to evaluate the influence of lime on the physicochemical properties and nutrient content of vegetative plant parts of three soybean cultivars (Glycine max (L.) on acid sands of Calabar, Nigeria. Levels of lime used were 0, 3600 kg ha^-1 in 2012, 0 and 1600 kg ha^-1 in 2013 seasons.  The result showed that the application of lime significantly (P<0.05) influenced in soil chemical composition and the mineral content in plant material of the three soybean cultivars. The particle size distribution showed that the soil was predominantly sandy loam texture. The silt fractions increased down the soil depth such that their values were higher in some cases in the subsoil than the surface soil. The sand content was steady in the soil profile. The N (g/kg), Avail P (mg/kg), exchangeable bases Ca, Mg, K (cmol/kg) had their values higher on the surface soil than the subsoil and these values were influenced by liming. The Al and Fe activities were reduced at high soil pH due to liming, making the exchangeable bases available for plants absorption. The availability of nutrient content in plant material was increased with reduced lime level in the second year. Cultivar differences in their nutrient content in the plant part was significant (p<0.05). The cultivar TGM 626, tended to have more nutrient contents in the plant materials than either TGM 630 or TGM 631. These results imply that, for acidic soils liming is the best practice to increase fertilizer use efficiency.

Key words: Calcium carbonate, Glycine max, mineral nutrition, soil characterization