Description

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) contains 40 - 42% protein and 20 - 22% oil and other nutrients like calcium, iron and glycine. It contains isoflavones, which helps in preventing heart diseases and cancer. In India soybean has established one of the major oilseed crops. In spite of high yield potential, it productivity is much less in India than the world average. The north-eastern region of India is one of the promising soybean growing belts, where crop is grown on slopes, jhum lands, terraces and plains. Cultivation of soybean on marginal land combined with sub optimal nutrients supply is the major hurdle in realising potential productivity. Farm yard manure is traditionally used for crop nutrition and its use in integrated approach reduces the dependence on chemical fertilizers. Integrating chemical fertilizers with organic manures has been found to be quite promising and maintaining higher productivity of soybean.