Plants (May 2023)

Macro and Micro-Nutrient Accumulation and Partitioning in Soybean Affected by Water and Nitrogen Supply

  • Ingrid Silva Setubal,
  • Aderson Soares de Andrade Júnior,
  • Silvestre Paulino da Silva,
  • Artenisa Cerqueira Rodrigues,
  • Aurenívia Bonifácio,
  • Evandro Henrique Figueiredo Moura da Silva,
  • Paulo Fernando de Melo Jorge Vieira,
  • Rafael de Souza Miranda,
  • Nicolas Cafaro La Menza,
  • Henrique Antunes de Souza

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12091898
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 9
p. 1898

Abstract

Read online

This study aimed to investigate the influence of water availability and nitrogen fertilization on plant growth, nutrient dynamics, and variables related to soybean crop yield. Trials were performed in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, using randomized blocks in a split-split plot arrangement. The plots corresponded to water regimes (full and deficient), the split plots to N fertilization (0 and 1000 kg ha−1 N-urea), and the split-split plots to harvest times of soybean plants (16, 23, 30, 37, 44, 58, 65, 79 and 86 days after emergence), with three replicates. In general, the accumulation and partitioning of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulphur (S), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and boron (B) were decreased in plants subjected to water deficit and without N fertilization. Although nitrogen fertilization promoted elevated N accumulation in tissues, it did not result in any significant yield gain, and the highest seed yields were found in plants under full irrigation, regardless of N supplementation. However, deficient irrigation decreased the seed oil content of N-fertilized plants. In conclusion, N fertilization is critical for nutrient homeostasis, and water availability impairs biomass and nutrient accumulation, thereby limiting soybean yield performance.

Keywords