PRODUCTION POTENTIAL, WATER-USE AND WATER-USE EFFICIENCY OF SOME SOYBEAN [GLYCINE-MAX (L) MERRIL] CULTIVARS GROWN ON VERTISOLS UNDER RAIN-FED CONDITIONS OF MALWA REGION

Soybean has become an important oilseed crop in Madhya Pradesh. It has an important place in major cropping systems namely, sole cropping, intercropping with maize and pigeonpea, and in sequential cropping viz., soybean followed by gram or safflower under rainfed conditions (Anonymous, 1980; Bala Subramanian et al., 1981 and Garg, 1985). Although the state contributes a major share in national pool of soybean production yet the average production per unit area is only 772 kg ha-1 (Garg, 1985). The productivity of soybean per unit area can be increased to a considerable extent by choosing suitable cultivar possessing high yield potential regardless of other management factors. Present paper reports the performance of different promising soybean cultivars with respect to their yield potential, water use and water-use-efficiency (WUE) under rainfed conditions.