My well-grown soybeans were mistakenly killed

Research is more than publishing papers. The published papers are the final outcomes. It is like the tip of an iceberg. The journey is much more exciting and thrilling.

Today, I will share an interesting story from my Ph.D. This happened during my first year of Ph.D.  I worked on the soybean plant during and studied how drought impacts its germination. For that, I had to study the impact of drought under laboratory, greenhouse, and field conditions. This story is from the field study.

Although I come from an agricultural family, I had never seen soybean seeds in my life until I worked on them during my Ph.D. We only used soya chunks purchased from the grocery store. To be honest, I had little knowledge of large-scale soybean farming in the USA. I was surprised to learn that the US is one of the world's top soybean producers.

Now, let's dive into the story. As I had to study germination under field conditions, in addition to the lab and greenhouse, I sowed the seeds in the field. They germinated well, and I, too, collected the data on the 7th and 14th Days as planned.

One day, while visiting my field, I observed something annoying. I felt like the plants were wilting. Oh my God…I had no idea what happened. Generally, soybeans take approximately 120-130 days to mature. Once they produce the mature pods, they begin to set the leaves. However, it had only been 60 days, and there were no signs of flowering yet. Only wilted plants. Really frustrating to see this.

I contacted my Ph.D. advisor and discussed the issue with her. She, too, had no idea. Additionally, I contacted two more soybean experts from my Ph.D. committee. Interestingly, one of the experts hinted to me that it might be exposed to herbicides. But I had no idea how the herbicides got into my field. I inquired with the field manager, but no one had any clue. We dug up the soil and collected root samples as needed for my study.

Although this did not significantly impact my study, it was a nightmare for a couple of days until I found the actual reasons.

I learned from the field manager that a farm crew mistakenly applied herbicides to my field, although they intended to apply them to a nearby field. My field is gone, and I had to drop out in the middle!

I said to myself, “Unexpected things may happen, but still strive for the best.”