| dc.description.abstract | Soy bean (Glycine max L.) grains are important legume crops commonly grown in Kenya. Soy bean
genotypes are grown in western Kenyan soils that are highly saturated with aluminium ions.
Aluminium toxicity mainly limits crop production. Many soy bean genotypes do not tolerate high
acidity in soils. Aluminium stress have effects on root growth, which limits plant growth and
development. Inoculation of plants with Rhizobia can restore nitrogen under acid affected soils to
produce competitive crop yields. There is little information on response of soy bean genotypes
grown in Western Kenya to aluminium toxicity under rhizobium inoculation. This study was
designed to determine the effect of aluminium application and Rhizobia inoculation on growth, yield
and nutrients uptake of soy bean genotypes. Eight treatments of Al (AlCl3.6H2O) levels and
Rhizobia were imposed. Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates was used.
Parameters determined included; number of branches, days to 50% flowering, pod clearance,number of pods, days to harvest maturity and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents.
Tukey’s HSD test at 5% level was used to separate treatment means. Mean of branches for
NAMSOI was significantly higher compared to mean branches for GAZZELLE and TGX at
treatment 4 (T4) on 61 DAT, respectively. Mean number of days to 50% flowering of NAMSOI was
significantly higher than that of GAZZELLE and TGX genotypes, respectively at T3.There was a
statistically significant interaction between the effects of treatments and genotypes on NPK
concentrations in plants. These findings show that Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculation alleviates
Al effects to a level that is significant to improve soy bean yield. Therefore, genotypes GAZELLE
and NAMSOI under Rhizobia inoculation were identified to be more tolerant to Al-stress, hence are
recommended for growing in Al prone soils. It provides the best conditions in improving soy bean
production under Al stress prone soils. | en_US |
