Time to plant soybeans

Soybean does well on many planting dates, if humidity is available. For planting soybean in different ecological zones in Nigeria, experts from IITA, University of Maiduguri recommend that farmers should consider planting between June to second week of July.  They stressed that June to July was necessary “because a prolonged dry spell after planting may […]

Soybean does well on many planting dates, if humidity is available. For planting soybean in different ecological zones in Nigeria, experts from IITA, University of Maiduguri recommend that farmers should consider planting between June to second week of July. 

They stressed that June to July was necessary “because a prolonged dry spell after planting may result in permanent wilting of the crop and the need for replanting. Late planting, on the other hand, may expose the crop to attack by some late season pests and also deprive the crop of sufficient moisture if the rains stop early.”

 Seed rate

 About 50–70 kg (20–28 standard mudus) are required to obtain a population of 444,444 plants/ha for soybean varieties. Since soybean seed size varies among varieties, it is essential to consider planting in terms of seeds/unit area. 

 Dress your seed before planting

 There are a number of fungicides to treat your seeds such as Captan, Apron Plus, or Thiram, etc at “the rate of 1 sachet/8 kg of seeds before planting for protection against soil-borne fungal diseases.”

 Plant spacing and sowing

 The experts recommended that farmers should “sow soybean by hand, planter, or by drilling. Plant 3 to 4 seeds/hole at a spacing of 75 cm between rows and 10 cm between stands. Alternatively, drill seeds at 50–75 cm between rows and 5 cm within rows. For the early maturing varieties, a spacing of 50 cm between rows and 5–10 cm within rows is recommended because they respond better to narrow spacing than the late-maturing varieties.”

 Fertilizer

A good fertilizer recommendation for soybean production depends on a good soil test. Under normal conditions, soybean as a legume should provide itself with nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation. Until nodulation occurs, the soybean plant depends on soil nitrogen for growth. Phosphorus is often the most deficient nutrient; therefore, apply optimum phosphorous fertilizer for good yield.

  IITA, IAR have good varieties

IITA has said that their “researchers developed combined rust-resistant and high yielding varieties. 

Other varieties include low pod shattering and soil deficiency tolerance; and resistance to frog-eye leaf spot, bacterial pustule and bacterial blight. They also developed efficient and rapid methods of evaluating rust-resistant varieties; and new techniques to aid resistance breeding.”

IAR Zaria also has good varieties for farmers to take advantage of.