Growth and Yield of Soybean Biotechnology Varieties Under Semi-Arid No-till Condition.

Soybean acreage has been steadily increasing in the western North Dakota, which has exceptionally drier climate (<330 mm of rain). Since 2006, producers in the USA and in North Dakota has been planting 95% of their soybean acreage with herbicide resistant biotechnology varieties. There are mainly three types of soybean biotechnology varieties seeds available in the market, which are Roundup Ready 2 Xtend (RR2X), Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield (RR2Y), and Roundup Ready (RR1). The patents of RR1 expired in 2015, so farmers may now save harvested RR1 seed and dramatically reduce seed input cost by about $40 per acre. This experiment was conducted to determine the potential advantage of RR1 Soybeans over other two varieties under semi-arid no-till condition. There were six replications and a plot size was 5.5 m × 3.7 m. The preliminary findings of treatment effects on physiology, growth, and yield of soybean are presented.