Assessing Variation in US Soybean Seed Composition (Protein and Oil)

Authors

Yared Assefa, Kansas State UniversityFollow
Larry C. Purcell, University of Arkansas
Montse Salmeron, University of Kentucky
Seth Naeve, University of Minnesota
Shaun N. Casteel, Purdue University
Peter Kovacs, South Dakota State University
Sotirios Archontoulis, Iowa State University
Mark Licht, Iowa State University
Fred Below, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Herman Kandel, North Dakota State University
Laura E. Lindsey, Ohio State University
John Gaska, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Shawn Conley, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Charles Shapiro, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
John M. Orlowski, Mississippi State University
Bobby R. Golden, Mississippi State University
Gurpreet Kaur, Mississippi State University
Maninderpal Singh, Michigan State University
Kurt Thelen, Michigan State University
Randall Laurenz, Michigan State University
Dan Davidson, Illinois Soybean Association
Igancio A. Ciampitti, Kansas State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2019

Citation

Front. Plant Sci. 10:298.

Comments

Copyright © 2019 Assefa, Purcell, Salmeron, Naeve, Casteel, Kovács, Archontoulis, Licht, Below, Kandel, Lindsey, Gaska, Conley, Shapiro, Orlowski, Golden, Kaur, Singh, Thelen, Laurenz, Davidson and Ciampitti.

Open access

doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00298

Abstract

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed composition and yield are a function of genetics (G), environment (E), and management (M) practices, but contribution of each factor to seed composition and yield are not well understood. The goal of this synthesis-analysis was to identify the main effects of G, E, and M factors on seed composition (protein and oil concentration) and yield. The entire dataset (13,574 data points) consisted of 21 studies conducted across the United States (US) between 2002 and 2017 with varying treatments and all reporting seed yield and composition. Environment (E), defined as site-year, was the dominant factor accounting for more than 70% of the variation for both seed composition and yield. Of the crop management factors: (i) delayed planting date decreased oil concentration by 0.007 to 0.06% per delayed week (R²~0.70) and a 0.01 to 0.04 Mg ha^-1 decline in seed yield per week, mainly in northern latitudes (40–45 N); (ii) crop rotation (corn-soybean) resulted in an overall positive impact for both seed composition and yield (1.60 Mg ha^-1 positive yield difference relative to continuous soybean); and (iii) other management practices such as no-till, seed treatment, foliar nutrient application, and fungicide showed mixed results. Fertilizer N application in lower quantities (10–50 kg N ha^-1) increased both oil and protein concentration, but seed yield was improved with rates above 100 kg N ha^-1. At southern latitudes (30–35 N), trends of reduction in oil and increases in protein concentrations with later maturity groups (MG, from 3 to 7) was found. Continuing coordinated research is critical to advance our understanding of G x E x M interactions.