In the recent years soybean cultivation has expanded largely in areas with sandier textures in the Cerrado. This has raised questions as to the sustainability and technical, economic and environmental viability of soybean production in these soils. Moreover, differences in the yield potential and nutrient dynamics in soil and plants are expected along a variation of soil texture. This study aimed to evaluate yield and nutritional aspects of soybean plants grown in Cerrado soils with different textures. Two databanks with information on soybean plants and soils with different clay contents (values between 30 and 840 g kg-1) were used. The data were plotted and adjusted regression equation were used to establish relationships between yield and soil texture and, in some cases the effect was evaluated within separate soil texture classes: sandy, sandy-loam, clayey and very clayey, aside from the leaf nutrient contents with texture and yield. Soybean yield tended to increase with the clay content. In the separate texture classes, the same trend was verified in the sandy and clayey classes only. In the sandy-loam and very clayey classes, yields tended to decrease when the soils had higher clay contents. The nutrient-soil texture and nutrient-soybean yield relationships were varied. Interestingly, the P and S leaf contents increased with clay contents to values of 227 and 426 g kg-1, respectively, and decreased thereafter. Potassium, Ca and Mg were positively and significantly related with clay content and soybean yield, whereas soil K+ and Ca2+ was limited for soybean grown in sandier soils. The micronutrients, aside from B, were not yield-limiting. Soybean yield is independent of the soil texture; climatic conditions and adequate soil management seem to be the main determinant factors of the crop responses. In sandy soils more attention should be paid to the fertilization management with K, Ca and B, wich were the most limiting elements for soybean yield.
soil fertility; mineral nutrition; soil clay content
