# Interannual Climatic Variability Modulates Biostimulant and Herbicide Effects on Yield and Seed Quality of White Lupin Under Rainfed Conditions

## TL;DR

This study shows that the effects of biostimulants and herbicides on white lupin yield and seed quality vary depending on the year's climate under rainfed conditions.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates the importance of multi-year validation for agronomic inputs in white lupin under rainfed conditions.

## Key findings

- Treatment effects on grain yield and seed traits were inconsistent across years.
- Seed nitrogen and protein content remained stable regardless of treatment or year.
- Principal component analysis showed years had a greater impact than treatments.

## Abstract

White lupin (Lupinus albus L.) is increasingly promoted as a sustainable protein crop; however, the consistency of agronomic input responses under rainfed continental conditions remains insufficiently documented. This study evaluated the interannual consistency of a foliar amino acid-based biostimulant (Aminotop N) and herbicide-based weed control on morphological traits, grain yield, seed physical quality (thousand-seed weight and hectoliter mass), and seed nitrogen and crude protein concentration of white lupin (cv. Măriuca). A 2 × 2 factorial field experiment arranged in a randomized complete block design was conducted across two consecutive growing seasons (2024–2025). Two-way ANOVA revealed significant effects of year and significant year × treatment interactions for grain yield and seed physical traits (p ≤ 0.05), indicating season-dependent treatment responses. Statistically significant treatment differences were detected in 2024, whereas no differences were observed among treatments in 2025. Seed total nitrogen concentration and crude protein content remained statistically stable across treatments and years. Principal component analysis explained 98.2% of total variance, with the first component primarily separating years rather than treatments. These results demonstrate that treatment effects were not consistently expressed across seasons and highlight the necessity of multi-year validation when assessing agronomic input effectiveness in white lupin under rainfed conditions.