Soybean Varietal Evaluation in Northern Guinea Savanna

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) Is a member of the family papilionaceae (IITA, 1993). It is an herbaceous annual legume, usually erect, bushy and leafy. Soybean is widely distributed in most parts of the world; the crop has a lot of potentials in Africa (Adamu and Amatobi, 2001 and Akande et al., 2007). Soybeans requires a free drain soil, sandy or medium loam soil, moderately fertile soils are particularly suitable (Tamiru et al., 2012). It is generally known that the seed of soybean contains the highest and riches protein among all cultivated legumes (FAO, 1989). It is an important source of high quality and inexpensive protein (Obidiebube et al., 2013). World-wide interest and attention in soybean is mainly due to its high nutritional value and seed protein content (Tiamigu and Idowu, 2001). It is primarily the source of vegetable oil and protein for use in food and industrial applications (Endress, 2001).  It is the largest single edible source of oil and accounts for roughly 50% of the total seed oil production worldwide (Obidiebube et al., 2013). There have been many studies on the performance of soybean to environmental conditions, agronomic practices and variety performance. The bulk of soybeans produced in Nigeria come from the southern guinea savanna but production has also extended to the northern guinea savanna and forest belts (Okpara and Ibiam, 2000). Not much has been done on the varietal performance of soybean in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria.  Therefore there is the need to study the performance of some newly developed Soybean genotypes in the Northern Guinea Savanna. The objective of the study was to determine the performance of five soybean genotypes in Northern Guinea Savanna.