Effect of Different Doses of Iron Chelate on Plant Growth and in Preventing Iron Deficiency Chlorosis in Soybean

The objective of this research work is to solve the problem due to iron deficiency in soybean crop. Iron deficiency chlorosis is a widespread agricultural problem in soybean crop, especially in alkaline and calcareous soils resulting in complete crop failure. To eradicate this problem, the methodology adopted in this work was conducted with a factorial experimental design of different doses (0, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 mgkg-1) of FeDTPA in 15 different types of soil categorized into low (L1-L5), medium (M1-M5) and high (H1-H5) iron content with soybean crop during Kharif season 2020 at Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. The experiment ended after 60 days of seed sowing. Plant height and total chlorophyll content of soybean crop were determined at 30 and 60 days after sowing. The highest plant height and total chlorophyll content were observed in 7.5 mgkg-1 dose of Fe in low iron content soil (L1-L5) is 102.36cm and 45.63 SPAD value respectively. Increasing the application of iron doses from 0 to 7.5 mgkg-1 increases the plant height and total chlorophyll content in low iron content soil while in high iron content soil (H1-H5) it decreases the plant height and total chlorophyll content. In conclusion, the use of FeDTPA in iron-deficient soils of the Indo-Gangetic plain will be beneficial for the growth of soybean crops as well as for the eradication of iron deficiency chlorosis.