Soybean is a nitrogen sucker

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed a soybean germplasm that doesn’t make its own nitrogen and, in fact, demands large applications in order to produce a decent yield. It was developed to help recover nitrogen from large applications of animal manure.

The germplasm is called Nitrasoy and it was released in conjunction with the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service at the state university in Raleigh. No surprise that, in the last 15 years, North Carolina has developed a reputation for its huge pork production and nasty effects on the environment.

In field tests, Nitrasoy was shown to have accumulated 17 per cent more soil-applied nitrogen in its seed than did its parent D68-0099, the USDA says.

Don’t expect to see commercial development of this non-transgenic soybean yet.

The seed has been deposited in the National Center for Genetic Resources, and it is available for research purposes from the federal Agricultural Research Services laboratory in Raleigh. BF