Understanding legume biology, from soil to harvest
Plain-language explainers on legume biology — biological nitrogen fixation, aflatoxin, region-specific rhizobia, and the science behind Nodu™, Vigor™ and Orvan™.
- Soybean on saline-alkali ground: a measured harvest in Heilongjiang — News, . On a Heilongjiang farm where every field is meadow saline-alkali soil, an independently measured harvest put the bio-coupling demonstration 10.4% above the untreated control — the same Aspergillus–Rhizobia Coupling science our Orvan™ range delivers.
- Inoculating soybean: the one legume you almost always should — Crop guides, . Soybean is the fussiest of the common legumes — it needs its own specific Bradyrhizobium, which is often missing on new ground. That single fact makes inoculation one of the highest-return decisions in soybean production.
- Reading your nodules: a field check for nitrogen fixation — Field guide, . You can actually see whether a legume is fixing nitrogen — by digging up a plant and reading its nodules. Here is how to sample, what to look for, and what to do about what you find.
- Nodu™, Vigor™, Orvan™: which biological does what — Technology, . Three technologies, three jobs. A side-by-side guide to what each one is, what it does, and when to reach for it.
- The eight legumes we serve — and the biology behind each — Fundamentals, . From peanut to alfalfa, eight legume crops with different rhizobial partners and different jobs. A quick reference — and a rule of thumb for where inoculation pays most.
- Inoculating alfalfa: the perennial that fixes the most — if it establishes — Crop guides, . Alfalfa fixes more nitrogen per season than any legume in our program, but only if it nodulates well in the establishment year. Its partner, Sinorhizobium meliloti, is specific — and its weak spot is acid soil.
- Getting inoculation right: timing, rate, and compatibility — Field guide, . An inoculant is a bag of living bacteria, and it only works if they reach the root alive. A handful of practical rules separate strong nodulation from wasted product.
- Inoculating cowpea: when a promiscuous legume still needs help — Crop guides, . Cowpea nodulates with a wide range of native Bradyrhizobium, so some partner is often already in the soil. That makes the inoculation decision more nuanced than for soybean — here is when it still pays.
- The forms an inoculant comes in — and how the world uses them — Technology, . Peat, liquid, granule, or on the seed — the form a live inoculant takes decides how it stores, how it goes on, and how many bacteria reach the root. A guide to the formats, our own range, and how usage differs from Brazil to Australia to Africa.
- What is Orvan™? Coupling the aflatoxin and nitrogen problems in peanut — Technology, . Orvan™ treats two of peanut farming’s hardest problems — aflatoxin and inefficient nitrogen — as one coupled question in the soil. It is built on the Aspergillus–Rhizobia Coupling research. Here is what it is, how it amplifies nitrogen fixation, and the science behind the coupling.
- When inoculation pays — and when it doesn’t — Field guide, . Inoculation is one of the cheapest inputs in legume farming, but the size of the return depends on the crop and the field. Here is an honest map of where a bag of rhizobia earns its keep — and where it earns less.
- Rhizobia are local: why the right nitrogen-fixing bacteria aren’t always in your soil — Fundamentals, . Rhizobia are not one bacterium but many, each tuned to particular legumes and particular soils. Understanding host specificity — and the hidden competition inside the root zone — is what makes inoculation pay.
- Troubleshooting poor nodulation: a field diagnostic — Field guide, . You dug up a legume and found few nodules — or nodules that aren’t fixing. This is a step-by-step guide to reading the symptoms, finding the cause, and fixing it next time.
- Aflatoxin in peanut: why it starts in the soil — and what it costs at the border — Fundamentals, . Aflatoxin is the peanut industry’s most expensive contaminant. Understanding the fungus, the crop’s unusual biology, and where the risk is really set is the key to controlling it.
- Biological nitrogen fixation: how legumes make their own fertilizer — Fundamentals, . A working explanation of the biology behind nitrogen fixation — the enzyme, the nodule, the energy trade, and the many things that quietly decide whether it actually happens in your field.
- Inner Mongolia’s Hinggan League signs on to scale bio-coupling in soybean — News, . At the launch of Inner Mongolia’s 2026 Science and Technology Week, OCRI-CAAS — the institute behind the bio-coupling technology in our Orvan™ range — signed a cooperation agreement to industrialize the bio-coupling across Hinggan League, a major soybean region where three seasons of trials raised average yields by more than 15%.
- In the field in Hubei: bio-coupling lifts soybean and peanut yields — News, . At a national field day in Tianmen, independently measured yields showed the bio-coupling approach — the science behind our Orvan™ range — raising soybean and peanut well above untreated fields, even after two months of heat and drought.
- Record soybean varieties and bio-coupling: an academician’s field visit in Tianmen — News, . At OCRI’s June 2025 soybean seminar in Tianmen, Academician Gai Junyi and other experts toured record-setting Zhongdou varieties and a 10,000-mu bio-coupling demonstration — the coupling science our Orvan™ range delivers, now running across 18 provinces at an average +15%.
- A 34.7% gain in Heihe: soybean measured under expert panel — News, . At an official field measurement in Heihe, Heilongjiang, the soybean block treated with the bio-coupling inoculant returned 34.7% more than the untreated control — the same Aspergillus–Rhizobia Coupling science our Orvan™ range delivers.