Influence of Herbicidal Regimes and Beneficial Microbial Strains on Growth and Yield Performance of Soybean (Glycine max L.)

Abstract

A field trial was conducted during Kharif 2024–25 at R.A.K. College of Agriculture, Sehore, to assess the influence of herbicidal regimes and microbial inoculants on soybean growth and yield. The experiment was laid out in Split Plot Design with 5 herbicide treatments and 4 microbial inoculation treatments, replicated thrice. Growth and yield parameters such as plant height, branches per plant, nodulation, pods per plant, seed yield, harvest index and economics were recorded. Results revealed that hand weeding at 20 and 40 DAS achieved the highest plant growth and yield attributes, followed by Diclosulam @ 26 g a.i. ha⁻¹ (PE) fb Propaquizafop + Imazethapyr (PoE). Among microbial inoculants, the combined inoculation of Bradyrhizobium daqingense + Bacillus aryabhattii significantly enhanced nodulation and yield performance. The highest seed yield (24.65 q ha⁻¹) was obtained with hand weeding, while the highest benefit–cost ratio (2.53) was achieved with Diclosulam (PE). The study concluded that integration of herbicide used with microbial inoculants effectively enhanced growth and yield of soybean at a lower cost.