EFFECT OF PRE-SOWING SEED INOCULATION ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF SOYBEAN VARIETIES IN THE STEPPE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Purpose – to establish the features of the formation of productivity of soybean varieties depending on inocula-tion in the Steppe of Ukraine. Methods. The studies were carried out during 2013-2015. on the fields of the "Arcadia" arm in the Bratsk region of the Mykolaiv Region. The research was carried out using the method of experimental work. Results. The highest height of soybean plants was in the Currency variety under the influence of the Optimize inoculant. In the phase of full filling, the plants reached a height of 59.7 cm, which is 4.3 cm more than in the con-trol (54.2 cm). In our opinion, the plant height was typical for these varieties. The influence of inoculants was notice-able during the growing season; therefore, the studied vari-eties were slightly higher compared to the control. During the growing season, the Apollo variety reacted better to inoculation, since the plant height increased by 3.4-7.3 cm. On average, over the years of research, the largest mass of nodules on one soybean plant was observed when using the Optimize inoculant: in the Valyuta variety – 1.41 g, and in the Apollo variety - 1.37 g, and without the introduc-tion of the test subjects – 1.18-1.20 g. It was found that the use of the Optimize preparation provides the highest productivity - the yield increase was 0.2 t/ha on the Apollo variety , and on the variety Currency it reached the high-est level - 0.3 t/ha. Conclusions. Inoculation of soybean seeds in the Steppe conditions can give tangible results in an increase in yield. Obtaining a 7.0-16.5% increase in yield due to inoculation indicates a rather significant effi-ciency of this technological measure. In addition, such an agro-technological event has an advantage in terms of environmental safety. It has been established that the use of inoculants not only increases the yield of soybeans in general, but also increases the protein content in the grain. The highest increase in the protein content was obtained when using the Optimize inoculant when growing the Apollo variety – 34.2%, which is 2.1% more than in the control.