This research was conducted to study the effects of liming on the nutrition of three soybean cultivars (IAC-9, UFV-1 and Cristalina) under acid soil, high in organic matter (Cumulic Haplumbrept) at the Itararé Experimental Station during the summer of 1986/87. The experimental area had been utilized since 1979 to study different levels of liming (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12t/ha of dolomitic limestone) with three wheat cultivars in the winter. The area was limed for the second time in March 1983 using the above mentioned levels of liming in the main plots. Probably due to low night temperature (average 12°C) observed in the first ten days of february 1987, there was low flower initiation and consequently no pod formation. The dry matter of the above ground parts of the soybeans plants was evaluated, there being a quadratic response to liming for all three cultivars. The cultivars Cristalina produced on the average the least quantity of dry matter when compared to IAC-9 and UFV-1. With the increase in the base saturation index there was a positive response in the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the leaves of all three cultivars. Independent of the base saturation index (which was between 6 and 50%) the leaf concentration of calcium did not vary much indicating the capacity of the cultivars in extracting calcium from the soil.
soybeans; liming; dry matter; leaf analysis