Small soybeans are nutritious and are one of the favored foods due to their higher protein content compared to regular soybeans. The market demand for small yellow soybeans has been increasing year by year. To achieve high yields of small soybeans, mastering cultivation techniques is essential. Let's discuss the cultivation techniques for high yield small soybeans.
Cultivation Techniques for High Yield Small Soybeans
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Variety Selection: Choose small soybean varieties with strong lodging resistance, non-explosive pods, good appearance and quality, moderate maturity, and high yields. Examples include He Feng 54, He Feng 58, and Long Small Bean 2. He Feng 54 has an indeterminate pod-setting habit, while He Feng 58 has a semi-determinate pod-setting habit, both of which have extremely strong lodging resistance.
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Seed Treatment: Before sowing, use a soybean seed sorter or manual selection to remove insect-damaged seeds, diseased seeds, and impurities. The seed quality should meet the standards of purity above 98%, germination rate not less than 90%.
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Site Selection: Choose fields with organic matter content above 4%, avoid continuous cropping, and implement crop rotation for more than 3 years. Select wheat stubble or corn stubble for planting small soybeans. If continuous cropping cannot be avoided, prioritize crop rotation.
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Land Preparation: Implement deep loosening as the main tillage method, combining plowing, loosening, and harrowing. For land without a deep loosening foundation, conduct autumn plowing or shallow tillage and deep loosening. For land with a deep tillage foundation, autumn tillage can be performed, combining harrowing and leveling. Spring tillage should be continuous to prevent soil moisture loss.
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Fertilization: Use a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers, with a general N:P:K ratio of 1:2:1. Apply organic fertilizer of more than 15 tons per hectare along with autumn tillage. For medium fertility soil, apply urea (40-60kg/ha), potassium sulfate (60-70kg/ha), and ammonium phosphate (100-150kg/ha) per hectare.
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Seeding: Start seeding when the soil temperature stabilizes at 7-8°C, ideally between May 1st and 15th in eastern and northern regions. Seed at a density of 20-25 thousand plants/ha or 30-35kg/ha. After seeding, press the soil immediately.
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Weed Control and Pest Management: Conduct pre-emergence soil closure weeding 3-5 days after sowing. During the reproductive growth stage, inter-row cultivation should be carried out 1-2 times, and weeds should be removed manually later. Control pests such as pod borers during soybean flowering.
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Harvest: Timing is crucial for harvesting small soybeans. Harvesting too early affects appearance quality, while harvesting too late leads to pod shattering. Harvest when all leaves have fallen off and beans have reached full maturity. Clear the field of weeds before harvesting, and ensure a stubble height that doesn't leave any pods. The harvesting quality requirement should have less than 5% breakage, less than 2% shattering, and less than 1% harvest loss.
Above are the cultivation techniques for high yield small soybeans. Characteristics of small soybeans include soft stems, small seeds, low density tolerance, low fertility tolerance, and tolerance to poor soils. Cultivation techniques should focus on maintaining the characteristics of small soybeans while improving lodging resistance and stem strength.
