Soya bean
Glycine max (L.) Merrill
Temperature
20°C to 33°C
Rainfall
537mm to 1700mm per season
Conditions
What it needs
Soil
Well-drained loam. Fixes its own nitrogen when the right rhizobia are present, which leaves the soil better than it found it.
Water
Most sensitive at pod fill. Inoculating the seed matters more than fertiliser on land that has not grown soybean before.
What you will need
Tick what you already have; Grow carries the rest into the cost working.
Grow holds no supplier listings and no local prices, so it cannot tell you where to buy these or what they cost near you. Ask at your nearest agrodealer or extension office, then put those figures into the planner.
Through the season
Stages
- 01
Land preparation
10 days- Plough
- Prepare a fine seedbed
- 02
Planting
3 days- Inoculate the seed
- Sow into moist soil
- 03
Vegetative growth
35 days- First weeding
- Check nodules are forming
- 04
Flowering
21 days- Second weeding
- Watch for rust
- 05
Pod fill
30 days- Scout for pod-sucking bugs
- Avoid water stress
- 06
Harvest and drying
14 days- Harvest before pods shatter
- Dry to safe moisture
Watch for
Common problems
Soybean rust
- What you will see
- Small brown lesions on the underside of leaves, which drop early.
- What to do
- Plant early, choose tolerant varieties, and do not plant into last season’s soybean residue.
Pod-sucking bugs
- What you will see
- Shrivelled or empty pods, seeds with dark punctures.
- What to do
- Scout from flowering. Ask an extension officer before using any pesticide, and never spray while bees are working.
Follow the label for doses, and ask an extension officer or vet before using a chemical you have not used before.