Nitrogen Balance and Biological Nitrogen Fixation of Soybean in Soybean-Barley Cropping System

This experiment was conducted to investigate the soil nitrogen credit of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and the nitrogen balance of soybean in soybean-barley cropping systems. Soybean cultivar, Shinpaldalkong2 and barley cultivar, Olbori, were used in soybean mono-cropping (SM), barley monocropping (BM), and barley-soybean double cropping system. The barley-soybean double cropping system was treated with two different levels of nitrogen fertilizers, 0 nitrogen fertilizer (BS-F0), and standard nitrogen fertilizer (BS-F1). Nitrogen and organic matter concentrations in soil of BS-F1 plot on October, 2001 were increased 4.8% and 5.9%, respectively, compared with those on October, 2000. The ranges of BNF rate in soybean were 69.1~88.2% in two years, and the rate was the highest in BS-F0 plot and the lowest in SM plot. The ranges of nitrogen harvest index (NHI) in all treatments were 83.9~86.7%. The yield was 270 kg/10a in BS-F1 plot and 215 kg/10a in BS-F0 plot. However, the nitrogen balances were +0.6 kg/10a of gain of soil nitrogen in BS-F0 plot and -0.4 kg/10a of loss of soil nitrogen in BS-F1 plot. In comparisons of SM and BS-F1 plots, although the seed yields were similar in two plots, the loss of soil nitrogen was higher in SM than BS-F1 plot. Overall, our results suggest that barley-soybean double cropping system was more effective in respect to seed productivity and soil nitrogen conservation than soybean monocropping system, and the N credit to following crops by soybean cultivation was identified in soybean double cropping system.