Research project Validating the use of endemic rhizobia for sustainable soybean cultivation in Northwestern Europe
General introduction
To what extent can certain locally-found favorable soil bacteria improve the yield and quality of soybean plants, when they enter the soil during seeding? This is being investigated in realistic agricultural production conditions during the SOYFARMER project. The rhizobium bacteria in question are known to be able to enter into mutually beneficial coexistence with the plant by forming nitrogen-fixing nodules (nodules) at the root system. In a previous VIB Grand Challenge project, Soy in 1000 Gardens, citizens across Flanders (Belgium) helped collect Rhizobium strains via a square meter of planted soy in their gardens. They were isolated from nodules on harvested soybean roots. SOYFARMER aims to validate the use of 4 promising rhizobia strains. Are they able to increase yield, protein content, biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and profitability of soybean cultivation?
Research approach
Four local rhizobial strains, along with 2 commercial inoculants, are tested on 3 soybean varieties in field trials at 10 locations across Belgium. Based on these field trials, we will assess which soybean-rhizobia combinations perform best (seed yield, protein content, BNF) in which environments, and select the ideal combination that shows the best application potential across different environments. In year 2, this ‘golden combination’ is tested in comparison to a control and a commercial inoculant on 50 farms across Belgium. Local soybean adaption models and life cycle analysis are performed.
Relevance/Valorization
Validation of our rhizobial strains in diverse agricultural environments is crucial to attract seed and inoculum companies that have the capacity to further evaluate the strains in different regions of Europe and the world, and ultimately bring them to the market. Insights gained from the soybean adoption and LCA models developed in during this project, will be crucial to obtain an integrated view on how farmers perceive the introduction of this important protein crop at Northern latitudes in Europe, and how this introduction would impact the carbon and N footprints of European food and feed.
Financing
VIB - Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie
