FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky State University has received nearly $600,000 from the USDA for a three-year study of nitrogen management in soybean production, with the goal of improving seed quality for the state’s producers.

“I’m very excited about this research project because of the urgency to improve seed protein concentration,” said Anuj Chiluwal, Kentucky State University assistant professor of agronomy and the project director.

Titled ‘Optimizing nitrogen management in soybean, integrating manual and high throughput aerial phenotyping,’ the research is being funded through 2026.

According to Chiluwal, soybeans are one of the most important crops in Kentucky and in the United States, with a national production value of about $61 billion. However, many soybean producers are struggling to meet the minimum protein threshold for high-quality animal feed.

He said he and his research team came up with this study to address the declining seed protein concentration in U.S. soybeans. Previous studies suggested low protein concentration may be tied to nitrogen levels.

He said this project will evaluate what levels and timings of late-season nitrogen fertilizer application are most effective on soybean yield and seed composition.

“In our previous study, we found that high doses of late-season nitrogen fertilization can help improve soybean seed protein concentration, and consequently, soybean meal quality,” he said. “To follow up on that study, we are testing relatively lower doses of late-season nitrogen fertilization effect on soybean yield and seed composition.

“Furthermore, we are also testing the effect of biochar (charcoal produced from plant matter and stored in the soil as a means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere),” he added. “Previous studies have found biochar increased root growth, nodulation, and microbial biomass in soybean.”

He said, “That’s why we are interested (in testing) its effect, hoping it might help improve soybean’s biological nitrogen fixing ability, and consequently, seed protein concentration. We are conducting this experiment, hoping the results would be helpful to identify optimal nitrogen management practice in soybeans, with the goal (of improving) its seed protein concentration.”

The researchers will utilize high throughput aerial phenotyping, which is a non-destructive and rapid approach of monitoring and measuring multiple phenotypic traits (observable characteristics, such as height, biomass, leaf shape) related to the growth, yield, and adaptation to biotic (relating to or resulting from living things) or abiotic stress.

High throughput phenotyping involves the application of these tools to phenotype the plants and can vary from ground-based imaging to aerial phenotyping to remote sensing.

Chiluwal said high throughput phenotyping is ‘rapidly emerging as a promising alternative’ to manual data collection, which is labor-intensive, expensive, slow, and potentially damaging.

He added this project will utilize several sensors to determine which are most effective in measuring morphophysiological (the study of anatomy in its relation to function) traits and yield prediction in soybeans.

He said the declining seed protein concentration in soybeans is a problem all over the U.S., not just in Kentucky.

“The results from this experiment would not only be useful in Kentucky, but also in other states in the U.S., and beyond,” he said.

The results of this research will then be disseminated to farmers, researchers, and cooperative extension personnel, he said.

“I am really hoping the findings from this project would be helpful to improve the overall seed quality in soybeans,” he said. “We are very, very excited.”