Impact of Freshwater Macroalga (<i>Cladophora glomerata</i>) Extract on the Yield and Morphological Responses of <i>Glycine max</i> (L.) Merr.
Sylwia Lewandowska,
Krzysztof Marczewski,
Marcin Kozak,
Naoko Ohkama-Ohtsu,
Magdalena Łabowska,
Jerzy Detyna,
Izabela Michalak
Affiliations
Sylwia Lewandowska
Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 24A, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland
Krzysztof Marczewski
Department of Genetics, Plant Breeding and Seed Production, Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 24A, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland
Marcin Kozak
Institute of Agroecology and Plant Production, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 24A, 50-363 Wroclaw, Poland
Naoko Ohkama-Ohtsu
Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
Magdalena Łabowska
Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-372 Wroclaw, Poland
Jerzy Detyna
Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-372 Wroclaw, Poland
Izabela Michalak
Department of Advanced Material Technologies, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-372 Wroclaw, Poland
The objective of this study was to investigate the response of Japanese and Polish soybean varieties to algal extract in terms of yield and other agronomic traits. A field experiment was conducted in 2019 at Pawlowice Experimental Station near Wroclaw city (Poland) to study the effect of a foliar spray of the algal extract prepared from freshwater Cladophora glomerata on the growth of two varieties of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill.)—Polish Erica and Japanese Enrei—cultivated under Polish environmental conditions. The foliar spray was applied once during the beginning of the soybean flowering (BBCH65) at one concentration (20%) of algal extract. The research showed that the foliar application of C. glomerata extract significantly enhanced the yield parameters. The plant height, first pod height, number of first branches, 1000-seed weight and yield were significantly higher compared with the control. The home variety Erica was better adapted to the climatic conditions in Poland than the Japanese variety Enrei. The study confirms that a foliar spray of algal extracts could be a promising option to increase soybean yield. The enhanced growth of the crop may be due to the presence of growth-promoting substances occurring in the algal extract.