Oil productivity and economic performance of soybean (Glycine max L.) under integrated nutrient management

Abstract:

Profitability, rather than yield alone, determines whether farmers adopt integrated nutrient management (INM). A field experiment was conducted during kharif 2025 on a clayey Vertisol at the College of Agriculture, Latur, Maharashtra, to evaluate seed oil content, oil yield and economics of soybean cv. MAUS-158 under seven nutrient management treatments laid out in a randomized block design with three replications. The treatments comprised control, recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF, 30:60:30 kg N:P₂O₅:K₂O ha⁻¹), and RDF combined with farmyard manure (FYM, 5 t ha⁻¹), neem cake powder (NC, 3 q ha⁻¹) and multi-micronutrient Grade-I (MMN, 25 kg ha⁻¹). Seed oil content (21.98–24.04%, measured by NMR) was not significantly influenced by the treatments. Oil yield, however, increased from 402.9 kg ha⁻¹ in the control to 930.8 kg ha⁻¹ under RDF + FYM + NC + MMN (T₇), which was at par with RDF + FYM + MMN (T₅, 850.9 kg ha⁻¹). T₇ gave the highest gross (₹ 2,00,250 ha⁻¹) and net returns (₹ 1,31,750 ha⁻¹), whereas T₅ recorded the highest benefit:cost ratio (2.96), the lowest cost of production (₹ 16.88 kg⁻¹ seed) and the highest additional net return per rupee of additional investment over RDF (₹ 4.06). Oil yield gains under INM were therefore driven by seed yield rather than oil concentration, and RDF + FYM + MMN emerged as the most cost-efficient option, with RDF + FYM + NC + MMN maximizing absolute returns.