Soybean full general practices

Botanical name	Glycine max
Kingdom	Plantae
Clade	Tracheophytes
Family	Fabaceae
Subfamily	Fabaceae
Genus	Glycine
Species	G.max

Soybean is a grain legume that is very nutritious and contains on average 40% protein. It can be used directly for food in the household, or processed for soy milk, cooking oil and a range of other products, including infant weaning food. Also the poultry industry uses soybean for feed production. Soybean grain often has a good market demand. The crop residues are also rich in protein and are good feed for livestock or form a good basis for compost manure.

Soybean forms root nodules which contain bacteria called rhizobia. The bacteria can fix nitrogen from the air into a form that soybean can use for growth. This is called biological nitrogen fixation. Some of the nitrogen is also left behind through falling leaves and roots to improve soil fertility. This makes soybean a good crop to grow as intercrop or in rotation with other crops, because these other crops then also benefit from the nitrogen. In addition, soybean has the potential to control the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica. To form nodules and fix nitrogen, soybean needs specific rhizobia. In most soils, these rhizobia are not abundant. Thus inoculating soybean seed with the correct rhizobium increases biological nitrogen fixation and give a good yield for very little cost. With good practices and the right varieties, grain yields can be as high as 3500 – 4000 kg/ha when grown as a sole crop. 

Soybean plant Anatomy:

Climatic Requirement :–

• Soybean grows well in warm and moist climate. 
• A temperature of 26 to 30°C appears to be the optimum for most of the varieties. 
• Soil temperatures of 15.5°C or above favour rapid germination and vigorous seedling growth. 
• A lower temperature tends to delay the flowering.

Soil and land preparation: 

Well drained loamy and sandy loam soil are most suitable. Low lying areas where water stagnation 

During raining rainy season may occur should be avoided. Two cross ploughing are sufficient to get the soil well pulverized and weed free land.

Loamy soil:

Loam soil is a mixture of sand, silt and clay that are combined to avoid the negative effects of each type.

These soils are fertile, easy to work with and provide good drainage. Depending on their predominant composition they can be either sandy or clay loam.

As the soils are a perfect balance of soil particles, they are considered to be a gardens best friend, but still benefit from topping up with additional organic matter.

Sandy Loam soil:

Sandy Soil is light, warm, dry and tends to be acidic and low in nutrients. Sandy soils are often known as light soils due to their high proportion of sand and little clay (clay weighs more than sand).

These soils have quick water drainage and are easy to work with. They are quicker to warm up in spring than clay soils but tend to dry out in summer and suffer from low nutrients that are washed away by rain.

The addition of organic matter can help give plants an additional boost of nutrients by improving the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil.

Implements used in soil preparation:

Tractor Drawn Cultivator:

Cultivator is an implement used for finer operations like breaking clods and working the soil to a fine tilth in the preparation of seedbed. Cultivator is also known as tiller or tooth harrow. It is used to further loosen the previously ploughed land before sowing. It is also used to destroy weeds that germinate after ploughing. Cultivator has two rows of tynes attached to its frame in staggered form. The main object of providing two rows and staggering the position of tynes is to provide clearance between tynes so that clods and plant residues can freely pass through without blocking. Provision is also made in the frame by drilling holes so that tynes can be set close or apart as desire. The number of tynes ranges from 7 to 13. The shares of the tynes can be replaced when they are worn out.

Treatment of soil:

Apply lime @ 500kg/ha in furrows and incorporate to the soil at least 1-2 weeks before sowing the crop.

Benefits of soil treatment:

Water benefits:

1. Healthy soil acts as a sponge: more rainwater is absorbed and stored in the ground, where it recharges groundwater and aquifers.
2. Healthy soil prevents run-off and erosion, and reduces evaporation.
3. Healthy soil improves water quality by filtering pollutants.

Nutritious food:

1. Healthy soil increases the nutritional value of food and forage.
2. Healthy soil provides plants with the nutrition they need and strengthens plants natural resistance to pests and diseases.

Economic security:

1. Healthy soil improves farm productivity and provides stability.
2. Healthy soil cuts down on inputs, which increases profit.
3. Healthy soil helps withstand extreme weather, floods and drought.

Environmental and health benefits:

1. Healthy soil helps reverse global warming by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere where it acts as a greenhouse gas.
2. Healthy soil provides habitat for soil microbes to flourish.
3. Healthy soil supports greater biodiversity and species stability

Varieties:

S.N.	Name	State	Duration	Resistant	Identification
1	Ahilya-1(NRC 2)	M.P.	103-106	Resistant to Rhizoctonia, pod blight, green mosaic virus, bacterial blight and tolerant to Cercospora leaf spot and Anthracnose	White flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, grey to black hilum, good germinability, determinate.
3	Ahilya-3(NRC 7)	M.P.	90-99	Resistant to bacterial blight, green mosaic virus, bacterial pustules, phyllody, soybean mosaic, Myrothecium and Cercospora leaf spots, tolerant to stem fly, girdle beetle, green and grey semilooper, leaf miner and defoliators.	Determinate, grey pubescence, purple flowers, yellow seed coat, brown hilum, high oil content, resistant to pod-shattering.
4	NRC 37(Ahilya 4)	Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra (Vidharbha & Marathwada), Bundhelkhand region of UP	96-102	Moderately resistant to collar rot, bacterial pustule, pod blight and bud blight like syndrome. Moderately resistant to stem fly and leaf miner. Non lodging under optimum plant population, non-shattering behaviour upto 10 days after harvest maturity	Erect, determinate plants without anthocyanin colouration in the hypocotyl, white flowers, tawny pubescence, small to medium, and spherical yellow seeds with light to dark brown hilum.
5	Alankar	Northern plains	115-120	Resistant to bacterial pustules, tolerant to yellow mosaic	White flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, light brown hilum and determinate
6	Ankur	Northern plains	115-120	Resistant to bacterial pustules and rust	White flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat and light brown hilum
7	ADT-1	Cauvery delta of Tamil Nadu	85-90	Tolerance to leaf miner and leaf webber	Determiante, grey pubescence, yellowish white seed coat, brown hilum, suitable as relay crop in rice fallows
8	Birsa soy 1	Uplands of Jharkhand state	110	Moderately resistant to Bacterial pustule and bacterial blight, resistant to soybean mosaic, yellow mosaic and Cercospora leaf spot	Determinate plants with white flowers, dark green leaves and black seeds with dull white hilum
9	Bragg	Throughout India	112-115	Resistant to bacterial pustules, susceptible to YMV.	White flowers, grey pubescence, yellow seed coat, black hilum, brown pods, determinate.
10	Co-1	Tamil Nadu	85-90	Resistant to stem fly & pod borer, moderately resistant to YMV.	Purple flowers, creamy yellow seed coat, relatively low hull and linolenic acid content, determinate.
11	Co Soya-2	Tamil Nadu	75-80	Tolerant to YMV and leaf miner.	Purple flower, determinate, dark green leaves, yellow seed.
12	Durga(JS 72-280)	Central zone	102-105	Tolerant to bacterial pustules.	White flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, black hilum, tall and indeterminate, fast growing.
13	Gaurav(JS 72-44)	Central zone	104-106	Susceptible to bud blight, defoliators, girdle beetle and stem fly	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, light black hilum and determinate
14	Gujarat soybean 1(J-231)	Low rainfall areas of Gujarat	90-95	Fairly tolerant to disease and pests in Gujarat	Purple flowers, grey pubescence, yellow seed coat, brown hilum and determinate
15	Gujarat soybean 2(J-202)	Medium to high rainfall areas of Gujarat	105-110	Fairly tolerant to disease and pests in Gujarat	Purple flowers, grey pubescence, yellow seed coat, brown hilum and determinate
16	Hara soy(Himso 1563)	Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal	108-130 days with a mean of 117 days	Immune to bacterial pustule, highly resistant to brown spot, bacterial blight, and resistant to frog eye leaf spot and pod blight. Highly tolerant to pest complex. Resistant to pod shattering. First ever culinary purpose variety in soybean.	Semi-determinate growth habit, green seed with black hilum, transparent seed coat and green cotyledons. Dark green leaves with smooth surface. The leaves remain green in colour even at senescence. White flower, dark brown pubescence on stem, leaves and pods, pods turn black on maturity. Green seeds, round, bold with black hilum.
17	Hardee	Southern zone	105-110	Fairly tolerant to bacterial pustules, susceptible to yellow mosaic	White flowers, grey pubescence, yellow seed coat, rosy hilum, determinate and suitable for inter cropping
18	Indira soy 9	Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura	106	Resistant to rust. Moderately resistant to stem tunneling and girdle beetle and leaf folder. Performs well under low to moderate plant densities	Light grey pubescence throughout the plant parts, broad light medium size green leaves, yellow seeds of medium size with black hilum and intermediate lustre.
19	Improved Pelican	Southern zone	112-115	Susceptible to bacterial pustules and yellow mosaic	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, brown hilum, brown pods
20	JS 2	Central zone especially Madhya Pradesh	90-95	Resistant to bacterial pustule, tolerant to Macrophomina	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, pods with dense brown pubescene, yellow seed coat, light brown hilum, determinate, highly shattering
21	JS 71-5	Malwa Plateau of MP	90-95		Purple flowers, yellow seed coat, black hilum, semi-dwarf, plant height 30 to 40 cms, determinate, poor seed longevity.
22	JS 75-46	Central zone	100-106	Tolerant to bacterial pustules, tolerant to Macropho-mina	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, pods with dense brown pubescence, yellow seed coat, light brown hilum, determinate, highly shattering.
23	JS 76-205	Madhya Pradesh esp. and adjoining districts	105-110	Resistant to bacterial pustules and seed and seed ling rot, tolerant to Anthracnose	Purple flowers, brown pubescen, black seed coat, buff coloured hilum, medium tall plants, suited to low input conditions.
24	JS 79-81	Madhya Pradesh	102-105	Resistant to bacterial pustle, bacterial blight and tolerant to green mosaic and susceptible to YMV	Purple flowers, detrminate, yellow seed coat, brown hilum and resistant to shattering and lodging
25	JS 80-21	Central zone	105-110	Tolerant to bacterial pustules, viral diseases and foliar insect-pests.	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, brown/black hilum, determinate, high seed germinability.  Perform well in eastern states.
25	JS 90-41	M.P.	87-98	Moderately resistant to stemfly, semilooper and tolerant to major diseases	Purple flower, tawny pubescence, semi-determinate, lanceolate leaves, 4-seeded pods, greenish yellow seed, blackish hilum.
26	JS 93 -05	Central zone (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bundhelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh).	90-95	Resistant to major diseases and insect pests.	Semi determinate, violet flowers, lanceolate leaves, four seeded pods, glabrous stem & pods, non-shattering, black hilum.
27	JS 335	Central zone	95-100	Resistant to bacterial pustule, bacterial blight and tolerant to green mosaic.  Susceptible to YMV.	Purple flowers, semi-determinate, resistant to shattering, black hilum.  Performs well in Eastern and Southern states.
28	Kalitur	Madhya Pradesh and Bundhelkhand region of M.P.	120-130	Susceptible to soybean mosaic, tolerant to bacterial pustules	Purple flowers, tawny pubescen, black seed coat, black hilum, small seeded semi indeterminate
29	Sneh(KB 79)	Karnataka	85-93	Resistant to Alternaria, bacterial pustules, YMV, soybean mosaic. Moderate tolerance to Cercospora and bud blight.	Purple flowers, grey pubescence, determinate yellow seed, brown hilum.
30	KHSb 2	Karnataka	115-120	Moderately tolerant to bacterial pustules	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, black hilum, semi determinate
31	Lsb 1	Andhra Pradesh	65-71	—	Determinate, white flowers,  light green leaves, cream coloured seed in 4 seeded pods
32	Lee	Northern hill zone	105-115	Susceptible to yellow mosaic, defoliators, bacterial pustules and girdle beetle	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, black hilum, light brown pods and determinate
33	MACS-13	Central zone	90-100	Resistant to bacterial pustules, tolerant to viral diseases and leaf-miner.	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, brown pod black hilum, indeterminate.
34	MACS-57	Maharashtra (Rabi/ Summer)	85-100	Resistant to soybean mosaic bacterial pustules and bud blight.	Semi-determinate, purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, light brown hilum, suitable for Kharif & Rabi.
35	MACS-58	Central zone	90-100	Resistant to bacterial pustules & leaf spot, tolerant to YMV.	Purple flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, light brown hilum, tall semi-determinate, suitable for mechanical harvesting.
36	MACS-124	Southern zone	95-105	Resistant to bud blight, soybean mosaic and bacterial pustules.	Purple flowers,tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, dark brown hilum, semi-determinate resistant to lodging.
37	MACS-450	Southern zone	90-95	Resistant to leaf spot, bud blight, yellow mosaic, soybean mosaic, bacterial pustule.  Highly resistant to stemfly and defoliators.	Purple flowers, medium tall, semi-determinate, tawny pubescence, yellow seed, black hilum.
38	MAUS 1	Maharashtra	90-95	Moderately resistant to YMV, soybean mosaic, bacterial pustules and leaf spots. Moderately resistant to leaf miner, stem fly and girdle beetle	Determinate, white flowers, tawny pubescence, yellow seed coat, brown hilum, tolerant to pod shattering
39	Pooja(MAUS 2)	Southern zone	105-110	Resistant to green mosaic, bacterial pustule, rust and leaf spots. Moderately resistant to leaf miner, stem fly and blue beetle.	Semi-determinate, grey pubescence, yellow seed coat, light brown hilum, resistant to pod-shattering.
40	MAUS 32	Maharashtra	100-105	Resistant to moderately resistant of common diseases and pests	Semideterminate, violet flowers, yellow seeds, brown hilum

Selection of seed:

• Make sure seed is not more than 12 months old to ensure good germination. 
• Sort out the good seeds for planting to ensure that they are free from insects, disease infestation and weed seeds.
• Do a germination test at least 10 days before planting. Plant 50 seeds. If at least 40 emerge, the seed is good for planting. If 30-40 emerge, plant more seeds than recommended. Get new seeds if less than 30 seeds emerge.

Seed Treatment :–

Treat seed with rhizobia:

1. Spread 100 kg of soybean seed on a clean plastic sheet or in a large container.
2. Mix 100 g of inoculant and 1 litres of water in a clean bucket.
3. Add 50 grams of sugar into the solution. The sugar acts as an adhesive between the seed and the inoculant.
4. Stir the solution for 30 seconds.
5. Sprinkle the inoculant mix onto the seed.
6. As you sprinkle the inoculant onto the seed, turn the seed gently to ensure that all seeds are coated with the inoculant. The coated seeds should look shiny wet.
7. Plant immediately after inoculation and protect the inoculated seed from direct sunlight by covering the container with paper, cloth or gunny bag.
8. Sow the seeds in moist soil and cover immediately afterwards to protect the rhizobia from sunlight.

Sowing time:

• June-July in summer and August-September for winter plantation. 
• Sowing in mid-June in the higher region is found to be most suitable.

Seed Depth: 3-5cm.

Seed spacing: 40x10cm.

Methods of sowing: 

Seed Drilling method:

Seed drilling is a planting method that uses a seed drill to place seeds in the ground. The seed drill opens furrows in the soil and then deposits the seeds into the furrow. The seed drill also covers the seeds with soil to protect them from wind and animals. There are two main drilling methods of sowing seeds: push and pull drills. The push drill is operated by pushing the seed tube into the soil and then pulling it back out, while the pull drill is operated by pulling the seed tube through the soil. The choice of a push or pull drill depends on the type of soil and the amount of power available. In general, the push drill is better for harder soils, while the pull drill is better for softer soils.

During drilling, seeds may be sown continuously or at regular intervals in the rows. These rows may be straight and parallel or staggered and irregular. Rows may be arranged as paired row planting, or bi-directional (cross row planting). Drilling may be adopted for both pure cropping and intercropping situations. Seeds are planted in groups of two to three at a uniform distance between them.

Advantages:

• The seed rate becomes less.  
• Drilling facilitates thinning and roughing of weak and diseased plants.     
• Weeding can be done profitably within a short time by wheel hoe, Japanese rice weeder etc.     
• The intercultural operations such as earthing up, manuring, irrigation, spraying etc. can be done successfully in the drilled crops.
• The drilled crops get light, air, nutrients equally as they are spaced at uniform distance.       
• Harvesting of crops is easier and advantageous. So, harvesting cost becomes less.
• Drilling may be adopted for both sole cropping and intercropping situations.
• The cost of cultivation in drilled crop becomes less and the yield of drilled crop increases.  

Disadvantages:

• Drilling requires an implement such as a seed-drill which increases the cost of cultivation. ii.                
• Drilling requires more time, energy and cost.
• An expert technical person is required for running of a seed-drill.     
• Drilling needs more time in comparison to broadcasting.
• Drilling is not feasible in clay and stony soils. 

Fertilizer management:

Soybean can use atmospheric nitrogen, but that’s not sufficient. So, crop is supplied with 10-15% of total nitrogen requirement. 12.5 kg of Nitrogen per acre and 32 kg per acre of Phosphorus is sufficient. And Potash is required only if deficiency observed.

Weed management:

The crop should be kept weed free up to 60DAS  

Two hand weeding (20DAS and 40DAS) are sufficient for higher yield  

Among weed control, pre emergence application of pendimethalin @ 0.75a.i/ha and one hand weeding at 40 DAS and Butachlor @1kg a.i/ha and one hand weeding registered higher seed yield.

Active ingredient	Use rate	Amount for one sprayer load (20 l knapsack)	For which type ofweeds
Metalochlor	1.1 l/ha	82  ml	Broad-leaved weeds and grasses
Metribuzin (triazine)	1.1 l/ha	75 ml	Broad-leaved weeds and some grasses
Alachlor	2.5 l/ha	75 ml
Fluaziflop-p-butyl	1.5 l/ha	75  ml	Grasses and volunteer wheat
Chlorimuron ethyl	45 g/ha	5  g	Nut-sedge and broad-leaved weeds

Irrigation management:

Soybean. Irrigate immediately after sowing. Give life irrigation on the 3rd day. Further irrigations at intervals of 7 – 10 and 10 – 15 days during summer and winter season respectively may be given depending on soil and weather conditions.

Soybean Plant Growth Stages:

Disease management :-

Alternaria leaf spot :- 

Symptoms:

• Seed become small and shriveled. Dark, irregular, spreading sunken areas occur on the seed.
• Appearance of brown, necrotic spots with concentric rings on foliage, which coalesce and form large necrotic areas.
• Infected leaves later in the season dry out and drop prematurely.

Management:

• Use healthy/certified seeds
• Destroy crop residues from fields.
• Seed treatment with thiram + carbendazium (2:1) @ 3g/kg seed.
• Use Mancozeb or copper fungicide at 2.5g/l or carbendazim 1 g/lit.

Anthracnose/pod blight :-

:

Symptoms:

• Infected seeds become shriveled, mouldy and brown.
• Symptoms on cotyledons appear as dark brown sunken cankers.
• In early stage, irregular brown lesions appear on leaves, stems and pods.
• In advanced stages, the infected tissues are covered with black fruiting bodies of fungus.
• Under high humidity, symptoms on leaves are veinal necrosis, leaf rolling, cankers on petioles premature defoliation

Management:

• Use healthy or certified seeds.
• Rotate soybean with cereals.
• Do not cultivate when the foliage is wet.
• Completely remove plant residue by clean ploughing the field soon after harvest.
• Destroy last years infected stubble.
• Maintain well drained field.
• Seed treatment with Thiram or Captan or Carbendazim 3 g/kg and
• Use Mancozeb @ 2.5g/l as spray or Carbendazim 1g/L.

Bacterial blight :-

Symptoms:

• Seeds may develop raised or sunken lesions and become shriveled and discolored.
• Small, angular, translucent, water-soaked, yellow to light brown spots appear on leaves.
• Young leaves are most infected and are destroyed, stunted and chlorotic.
• Angular lesions enlarge and merge to produce large, irregular dead areas.
• Early defoliation of lower leaves may occur.
• Large, black lesions develop on stems and petioles.

Management:

• Deep summer poughing.
• Use healthy/certified seeds.
• Destroy infected crop debris
• Seed treatment with streptocyclin @ 250 ppm (2.5 g/10 kg seeds).
• Application of any copper fungicides @ 2 g/lit along with streptocyclin at the rate of 250 ppm (2.5 g/10 lit water).

Cercospora leaf blight, leaf spot and Purple seed stain: 

Symptoms:

• Infected leaves appear leathery, dark, reddish purple.
• Severe infection cause rapid chlorosis and necrosis of leaf tissues, resulting in defoliation.
• Lesions on petioles and stems are slightly sunken, reddish purple; severe cause defoliation.
• Later, blighting of young, upper leaves over large areas, even entire fields occur.

Management:

• Use healthy/certified seeds.
• Previous crop debris should be removed.
• Seed treatment with Thiram + Carbendazium (2:1) @ 3g/kg seed.
• Use Mancozeb or copper oxychloride at 2.5g/l or Carbendazim 1 g/lit.

Charcoal rot, ashy or stem blight or dry root rot: 

Symptoms:

• This disease occurs when the plants are under moisture stress or under nematode attack or through soil compaction or may be through nutrient deficiencies.
• It is a most common basal stem and root disease of the soybean plant.
• Lower leaves become chlorotic and wilting and drying is apparent.
• The diseased tissues generally develop grayish, discolouration.
• The sclerotia look like black powdery mass hence the disease is known as charcoal rot.
• Blacking and cracking of roots is the most common symptom.
• The fungus survives in soil and crop debris in dry conditions.
• Dry conditions, relatively low soil moisture and nutrient and temperature ranging from 25^o C to 35^o C are favourable for the disease.

Management:

• Deep ploughing in summer.
• Ensure balanced fertilization of the crop.
• Rotate soybean with cereals.
• Maintain well drained field
• Destroy last years infected stubble.
• Seed treatment with T. viride @4g/kg or P. fluorescens @ 10g/ kg of seed or Carbendazim or Thiram 2g/kg of seed.
• Spot drenching with Carbendazim 1g/lit or P. fluorescens / T. viride 2.5 kg/ha with 50 kg FYM.

Collar rot / Sclerotial blight :–

 

Symptoms:

• Infection usually occurs at or just below the soil surface.
• Sudden yellowing or wilting of plants is the first symptom.
• Light brown lesions, which quickly darken, enlarge until the hypocotyl or stem is girdled.
• Leaves turn brown, dry and often cling to dead stem.
• Numerous tan to brown, spherical sclerotia form on infected plant material.

Management:

• Deep ploughing in summer.
• Crop rotation with maize or sorghum.
• Destroy infected stubble.
• Seed treatment with T. viride @4g/kg or P. fluorescens @ 10g/ kg of seed or Carbendazim or Thiram 2g/kg of seed.
• Spot drenching with Carbendazim 1g/lit or P. fluorescens / T. viride 2.5 kg/ha with 50 kg FYM.

Frog eye leaf spot :-

 

Symptoms:

• Light to dark gray or brown areas varying from specks to large blotches appear on seeds.
• The disease primarily affect foliage, but, stems, pods and seeds may also be infected.
• Leaf lesions are circular or angular, at first brown then light brown to ash grey with dark margins.
• The leaf spot may coalesce to form larger spots.
• When lesions are numerous the leaves wither and drop prematurely.
• Lesions on pods are circular to elongate, light sunken and reddish brown.

Management:

• Use healthy or certified seeds.
• Rotate soybean with cereals.
• Completely remove plant residue by clean ploughing the field soon after harvest.
• Seed treatment with Thiram + Carbendazim (2:1) @ 3g/kg seed.
• Spray Mancozeb @ 2.5g/lit or Carbendazim 1g/lit.  

Rhizoctonia aerial blight / Web blight :-

 

Symptoms:

• Infected seeds have irregularly shaped tan or light brown sunken lesions.
• Infected leaves appears as water soaked at first instance. They soon take on a greenish brown to reddish brown appearance.
• The infected portion later turns tan brown or black in colour.
• Under high rainfall or high humid conditions, a web like mycelial growth of fungus forms on the leaves.
• Dark brown sclerotia are formed on leaves and petioles.
• The pathogen survives as sclerotia in soil.
• Humid and cool (24-32o C) are favourable weather condition.

Management:

• Avoid dense planting.
• Completely cover plant residue by clean ploughing the field soon 
  after harvest.
• Destroy infected stubble.
• Seed treatment with Thiram + Carbendazium (2:1) @ 3g/kg seed.
•  Use Mancozeb or copper fungicide at 2.5gm/l or carbendazim 1 g/lit.

Soybean mosaic: Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) belongs to Poty virus: 

Symptoms:

• Infected seeds gets mottled.
• Diseased plants are usually stunted with
  distorted (puckered, crinkled, ruffled, stunted, narrow) leaves.
• The parts are often stunted.
• Flattened or curved and contain fewer and smaller seed.
• Infected seeds fail to germinate or they produce diseased seedlings.

Management:

• Use healthy/certified seeds.
• Keep the field free from weeds.
• Rogue out infected plants and burn them
• Two foliar sprays of Thiamethoxam 25 WG @ 100 g/ha or Methyl demeton 800 ml/ha at 30 and 45 days after sowing to control the vector

Yellow mosaic :–

 

Symptoms:

• Characteristic symptom is conspicuous systemic bright yellow mottling of leaves.
• The yellow area are scattered or occur in indefinite bands along the major veins.
• Rusty necrotic spots appear in the yellow areas as the leaves mature.

Management:

• Rogue out infected plants up to 30 days
• Spray Monocrotophos 500 ml or Methyldemeton 25EC 500 ml/ ha twice on 15 and 30 days after sowing

Insect pest management: 

Bihar hairy caterpillar :–

Symptoms:

• Young larvae feed gregariously on chlorophyll mostly on the under surface of the leaves, due to which the leaves look like brownish-yellow in colour.
• In later stages the larvae eat the leaves from the margin.
• The leaves of the plant give an appearance of net or web

Management:

• Deep summer ploughing.
• Avoid pre monsoon sowing.
• Use optimum seed rate.
• Adequate plant spacing should be provided
• Intercrop soybean either with (early maturing) pigeon pea variety or maize or sorghum in the sequence of 4:2 should be practiced.
• Collect & destroy infested plant parts, egg masses and young larvae.

Field Sanitation: Remove the infested plant parts at least once in 10 days and bury them in compost pit to monitor and reduce the population.

Light Trap: Install one light trap (200W mercury vapour lamp) per hectare to catch the adults of some nocturnal pests such as hairy caterpillar (positively phototropic).

• Apply chlorpyriphos 20 EC @ 1.5 lit/ha or trizophos 40 EC @ 0.8 Lit/ha or quinalphos 25 EC @ 1.5 lit/ha.
• Dust Chlorpyriphos 1.5% DP quinalphos 1.5% @ 25kg/ha when the population is likely to reach 10/m row length (ETL). Repeat it as needed.

Gram pod borer :-

 

Symptoms:

• The young larvae feeds on the chlorophyll of young leaves and skeletonize it.
• They feed voraciously on the foliage in early stage, may defoliate the plant and later they feed on flowers and pods.

Management:

• Deep summer ploughing
• Install pheromone traps at a distance of 50 m @ 5 traps/ha for each insect pest.
• Erect bird perches @ 50/ha.
• Clip terminal shoots on 100 days of crop growth.
• Setting of light traps (1 light trap/5 acre) to kill moth population
• Dusting with Chlorpyriphos 1.5 % DP or fenvalerate 0.4% or quinolphos 1.5% @ 25 to 30 kg/ha
• Spray with Chlorpyriphos 1.5 % DP @1200 ml/ha or quinolphos 25 EC @ 1.0 lit/ha.

Tobacco caterpillar :-

 

Symptoms:

• Larvae feed on the chlorophyll of the leaves.
• The eaten leaves give the appearance of whitish yellow web.

Management:

• Deep summer ploughing.
• Avoid pre-monsoon sowing.
• Optimum seed rate (70-100 kg/ha) should be used.
• Collect and destroy infested plant parts, egg masses and larva.
• Install sex pheromone trap @ 10 traps/ha for early deduction of the pest.
• Erection of bird perches @ 10-12/ha.
• Field Sanitation: Remove the infested plant parts at least once in 10 days and bury them in compost pit to monitor and reduce the populations of tobacco caterpillar. Traps are used for monitoring the pest situation.
• Install one light trap (200W mercury vapour lamp) per hectare to catch the adults of some nocturnal pests such as tobacco caterpillar (positively phototropic).
• Install five sex pheromone traps per hectare (change septa after 3 weeks), specific for male adults of tobacco caterpillar (separate pheromone for each).
• Apply Profenophos 50 % EC @ 1000 ml/ha or deltarnethrin 2.8 EC @ 750 ml/ha
  or quinolphos 25 EC @ 1000ml/ha
• In case of severe infestation apply polytrin 44% @ 1 lit/ha 
  or profenophos 50 EC 2.00 lit/ha
• Dust Deltamethrin 2.8% EC or quinalphos 1.5% @ 25kg/ha when their population is likely to reach 10/m row length (ETL). Repeat it as needed.

Thrips :-

 

Symptoms:

• The infected leaf turns whitish-brown in colour.
• In case of heavy infestation the leaves get dry and drop down and slowly the plant becomes leafless. 

Management:

• Dusting  of cow dung ash and spraying of  clay suspension as asphyxiants (in small area and low incidence of sucking insects)  
• Spray 0.05 % quinalphos 25 EC, or oxydemeton methyl 25 EC, or dimethoate 30 EC @ 2ml /lit at the crop age of 35-40 days and repeat after 15 days if needed.

White Fly :-

 

Symptoms:

• Due to attack of the insect the leaves turn yellow and become curled.
• This insect spread the mosaic disease in soybean.

Management:

• Dusting  of cow dung ash and spraying of  clay suspension as asphyxiants (in small area and low incidence of sucking insects)  
• Spray 0.05 % quinalphos 25 EC oxydemeton methyl 25 EC, or dimethoate 30 EC @ 2ml /lit at the crop age of 35-40 days and repeat after 15 days if needed.

Soybean Aphid or Jassids :–

Symptoms:

• They suck the plant sap from the stem, leaves and pods which cause reduction in yield.
• The infested leaves are wilted or curled.
• Plant stunting, reduced pod and seed counts, puckering and yellowing of leaves.

Management:

• Dusting  of cow dung ash and spraying of  clay suspension as asphyxiants (in small area and low incidence of sucking insects)  
• Spray 0.05 % quinalphos 25 EC, oxydemeton methyl 25 EC, or dimethoate 30 EC @ 2ml /lit at the crop age of 35-40 days and repeat after 15 days if needed

Girdle beetle:

Symptoms:

• Girdling of  stems and petioles
• The inside of the stem is eaten by the larvae and a tunnel is formed inside the stem.
• The leaves of plant of infected portion are unable to get the nutrient and are dried up.
• In later stages the plant is cut at about 15 to 25 cm above the ground.

Management:

• Deep summer ploughing
• Planting time on the onset of monsoon
• Optimum seed rate (70-100 kg/ha) should be used
• Intercropping with maize or sorghum should be avoided
• Crop rotation should be followed
• Avoid excess nitrogenous fertilizers.
• Collect and destroy infested plant parts and egg masses.
• Remove the infested plant parts at least once in 10 days and bury them in compost pit to monitor and reduce the populations of girdle beetle
• Apply phorate 10 G @ 10 kg/ha or carbofuran 3 G @ 30 kg/ha at the time of sowing.
• One or two sprays of 0.03% dimethoate 30 EC or 0.05% quinalphos 25 EC or 0.05% methyl demeton 25 EC or 0.04% can check further damage.
• Spray quinalphos 25 EC triazophos 40 EC @ 2 ml/lit. at the crop age of 30-35 days and repeal after 15-20 days (1000 l spray/ha) 

Stem Fly :-

Symptoms:

• The eggs are laid on leaves.
• After hatching from the egg yellowish maggots bore the nearest vein of the leaf.
• The maggot then reach the stem through petiole and bore down the stem.
• If the infected stem is opened by splitting, distinct zig zag reddish tunnel can be seen with maggot or pupae inside it.
• The maggots feed on cortical layers of the stem, may extend to tap root, killing of the plant.

Management:

• Deep summer ploughing.
• Avoid pre monsoon sowing.
• Use optimum seed rate and plant spacing.
• Proper crop rotation with dissimilar crops should be followed.
• Remove and destroy the damaged plant parts.
• Soil application of phorate 10 G @ 10 kg/ha or carbofuran 3 G @ 30 kg/ha at the time of sowing will prevent early infestation by stem fly.
• One or two sprays of 0.03% dimethoate 30 EC or 0.05% quinalphos 25 EC can stop the damage.