TILLAGE AND NITROGEN RATE EFFECTS ON SOYBEAN YIELD IN THE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS FROM DANUBE MEADOW

Soybean is a plant with multiple uses both for food and feed purposes, as well as raw material for different industrial purposes.This is due to its chemical composition, respectively to the richness in lipids and proteins, soybean being important also from an agronomic point of view, for the nitrogen natural fixation and improving soil fertility.The aim of the performed research was to investigate the behaviour of the soybean crop at different tillage and nitrogen rates.In this respect, field experiments were performed under rainfed conditions located in South Romania, respectively in the Danube meadow, in the years 2023 and 2024.The experimental factors were: Factor A: Soil tillage (a1 -Ploughing -depth of 25 cm + 2 disc harrows -Control; a2 -Scarifying -depth of 35 cm + 2 disc harrows; a3 -Gruber Tiger -depth of 25 cm; a4 -Gruber Tiger -depth of 15 cm; a5 -Disc harrowdepth of 15 cm -2 passed); Factor B; Nitrogen rate (b1 -N0 -unfertilized -Control; b2 -60 kg/ha; b3 -80 kg/ha; b4 -120 kg/ha).The conventional tillage system had a positive response for 2023, given the high amount of precipitation in spring, but in the dry year 2024, the minimum tillage system played an important role in conserving water in the soil in spring, which leaded to better seed yields.Generally, in any tillage variant and climatic conditions, the increasing of the nitrogen rate was associated with a positive effect on the yield elements, seed yield and yeild quality.