YIELD AND QUALITY RESPONSES OF SOYBEAN (Glycine max. L. Merr.) VARIETIES INOCULATED WITH RHIZOBIA STRAINS UNDER DROUGHT STRESS

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nodule formation and nodulation performance of Rhizobia bacteria on yield and quality in soybean roots under limited water application conditions in soybean varieties depending on climate change. In this study, 4 different irrigation applications (limited vs irrigated: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%), 2 soybean varieties (Cinsoy and Altınay) and 3 different Rhizobia inoculants (Control, AZOTEK-2, USDA-110) were applied for two years (2020-2021) in order to determine the yield and quality characteristics of soybean. The experiment was established according to randomized complete block split-split plots experimental design with 3 replications. In the experiment, the main factor was Rhizobia inoculant treatments, the first sub-factor was soybean varieties, and the second sub-factor was irrigation applications. Within the scope of the study, yield and quality parameters such as plant height (cm), first pod height (cm), number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, seed yield (kg ha-1), 1000 seed weight (g), leaf area (cm2 plant-1), seed crude protein (%) and oil content (%) were examined. It was concluded that irrigation and inoculant applications and combinations of these factors had significant effects on yield parameters of soybean varieties. The study revealed that there was no discernible nodulation development observed in soybean roots under both irrigated and limited irrigation conditions. It was determined that under conditions of limited irrigation combined with high temperature conditions, the growth of the soybean was significantly impacted, resulting in a notable reduction in yield and leaf area but this was not observed in the quality characteristics.