Application of humic acid and foliar sulfur positively affect yield and related attributes of soybean under the agroclimatic region of Peshawar Pakistan

Abstract

To address the challenges posed by declining sulfur deposition and exploring alternative fertilization strategies like foliar application, a trail was conducted to assess the effect of humic acid (HA) and foliar sulfur levels on soybean cultivars at The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during spring season 2022. RCB design with three replications was employed. Four levels of HA (0, 3, 6 and 9 kg ha" x), four FS levels (0, 4, 6, 8%) on two soybean cultivars (Malakand-96 and Parachinar) were tested. Findings showed that HA applied at 9 kg ha-1hasten flower initiation (56) and delayed maturity (104), increase plant height (93.4 cm), branches plant-1 (12), leaves plant-1 (109), pods plant-1 (98), pod length (3.7 cm), seeds pod-1 (2.6), thousand seed weight (174.7 g), biological yield (12118 kg ha-1), grain yield (3106 kg ha-1), oil contents (21.0%) and protein content (32.07%). Similarly, FS applied at the level of 8% reduced days to 50% flowering (56) and maximized the days to 50% (103) maturity, plant height (94.0 cm), branches plant-1 (11), leaves plant-1 (109), pods plant-1 (99), pod length (3.6 cm), seeds pod-1 (2.5), thousand seed weight (173.1 g), biological yield (12116 kg ha-1), grain yield (3090 kg ha-1), oil content (21.0%) and seed protein (32.08%). Malakand-96 gave maximum thousand seed weight (172 g) biological yield (11533 kg ha-1), grain yield (3042 kg ha-1), oil contents (20.3%) and protein content (31.65%) while minimum yield and related components were associated with Parachinar cultivar. It is advised that cultivar Malakand-96 under treatment of HA at 9 kg ha-1 and FS at the level of 8% should be employed for improved soybean production. Keywords: Delayed maturity: Malakand-96: Quality; Yield enhancement