This document provides information about soybean (Glycine max), including its importance as an oil and protein crop, production levels in different countries, breeding efforts that contributed to increased production, and breeding goals and techniques. It describes soybean's morphology, flowering and pollination process, breeding methods like hybridization and backcrossing used to develop new varieties, and important soybean breeding programs and released varieties in India.

2. Dr. Pratibha Bisen
Dept. Plant Breeding & Genetics
College of Agriculture, Balaghat
JNKVV Jabalpur (M.P.)
Soybean

3. The soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is an economically important
leguminous crop for feed, oil, and soyfood products.
It contains about 40% protein and 20% oil in the seed and, in the
international trade markets, is ranked number one in oil production (48%)
among the major oil seed crops.
In the United States the soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merrill, emerged from a
relatively obscure immigrant plant to become a major grain crop. Before 1940,
the soybean was cultivated largely for forage; today it is third in production of
grain after corn and wheat, and second in value after corn.
The United States produces 51% of the world production with three other
soybean producing countries, Brazil, the People's Republic of China, and
Argentina, producing another 38%.

4.  The remaining production is scattered among various countries in Asia and
South America, with only minor production in Africa and Europe.
 Why the phenomenal increase in production and value of soybean in the
United States since 1940
 There are two major contributing factors:
• The soybean seed, averaging 40% protein and 20% oil, is unexcelled in
nutritive content among the major grain crops.
• A major research effort was directed toward breeding improved cultivars,
disease and insect control, and production technology

5.  Soybean is the most important oilseed crop of India as well as
Madhya Pradesh.
 At present, its cultivation reached to 109 and 54 lakh hectares,
in India and MP, respectively ranking first among oilseed
crops.
 To provide the quality seed in large quantity to achieve the
higher seed replacement rate and sustain the production and
productivity is a big challenge.
 Seed is the basic and most critical input for sustainable
agriculture.

6.  Scientific Name: Glycine max
(L.) Merrill
 Family: Fabaceae
 Subfamily: Papilionoideae
 Tribe: Phaseoleae
 Genus: Giycine
 Center of Origen: China
 Chromosome No. : 2n= 40

7. The subgenus Soja contains two species:
 • Glycine max (L.) Merrill., (2n = 2x = 40), the cultivated
soybean.
 • Glycine soja (L.) Sieb. and Zucc., (2n = 2x = 40), a wild
species.
 G. soja is its most probable progenitor

8. The plant of the cultivated soybean is an erect, bushy annual that
branches profusely if given sufficient space.
Breeding efforts have been directed toward the selection of cultivars
with short branches to accommodate higher plant populations. Soybean
cultivars are grouped by plant growth type as:
• indeterminate, in which flowering begins before stem elongation ceases,
and flowers are borne in axillary racemes (Fig 16.3), and
• determinate, in which flowers are borne in both axillary and terminal
racemes, stem elongation ceasing with differentiation of a terminal bud.
Ideotype

9. The indeterminate type is adapted to short growing seasons, with
flower and seed production proceeding before the soybean plant
completes its growth, yet seed maturity for all flowers is normally
reached simultaneously.
The determinate type is adapted to a long growing season, in which the
soybean plant completes growth before or shortly after flowering is
initiation.

10. Field standards Maximum permitted (%)
Foundation Certified
Isolation distance 3 m 3 m
No. of field
inspections
2 2
Off-Types 0.1 0.5

11. Hypocotyl anthocyanin
Colouration
Present
Absent
Violet
or
Green
or

13. White [1] Violet [2]
Variation in flower colour

14. Glabrous
Tawn Dense
Grey
Tawn Sparse

15. Absent [1] Grey Tawny
Present [2]
Variation in presence and colour of hairs on pod

16. Light[3] Medium[5] Dark[7]
Variation in intensity of brown colour on mature pod

17. The cultivated soybean bears flowers in clusters of 3 to 15 blossoms in the
axil of a branch.
Many flowers are shed without forming pods.
The flowers are characteristic of the legume family, the corolla consisting of
five petals which enclose a pistil and ten stamens .
Nine stamens develop in a tube around the pistil; the tenth stamen remains
free.
Flowering and Pollination

18. Pollen from the anthers is shed directly on the stigma, resulting in a high
degree of self pollination and less than 1% of natural crosspollination.
The flower normally opens early in the morning, but opening may be
delayed in cool, damp weather. In prolonged periods of cool temperatures, or
on short days, cleistogamous flowers that do not open may be produced.
Pollen shedding normally occurs shortly before or shortly after the flower
opens but sometimes occurs within the bud. Soybean pollen is heavy and
seldom windborne but may be carried from flower to flower by insects.
Natural crosspollinations rarely occur at distances of more than 10 to 15 m.

19. Artificial crosspollination is a tedious operation due to the small floral pans.
Seed set is normally lower than with the cereal grains.
Flowers are prepared for crossing just as they emerge from the bud and before
the petals are visible by removing the sepals and petals to expose the ring of
stamens that surround the pistil.
The stigma is receptive to pollen on the day before the anthers begin shedding
pollen. Some breeders do not remove the stamens.
Crossing Techniques

20. Instead, they use a dominant marker gene, such as purple flower color
in the pollinator, that produces a purple hypocotyl in the hybrid F1
seedling plant.
The purple hypocotyl can be observed shortly after emergence of the
seedling and is used to distinguish hybrid plants from plants originating
from self pollination.
If the stamens are removed, care must be taken to prevent injury to the
pistil.

22.  Four recessive genes for genetic male sterility, ms1, ms2, ms3,
and ms4, have been identified in the soybean.
 The male sterile genes inhibit development of viable pollen
and prevent normal self fertilization.
 In addition, a temperature sensitive gene, msp for partial male
sterility, and duplicate recessive genes fs1 and fs2 for an
abnormal flower structure that prevents normal self
fertilization, have been identified in soybean.
 Male sterile plants can be distinguished from normal plants by
selecting green plants with partially filled pods in late fall after
normal plants have shed their leaves.

23.  Introduction and Germplasm Assembly
 Selection
 Hybridization
 Backcross Breeding

24.  Seed Yield
 Resistance to Lodging and Shattering
 Breeding for Stress Environments
 Disease Resistance
 Seed Quality and Composition:
 Market quality
 Protein content and quality
 Oil content and quality
 Resistance to field weathering

25.  Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center
(AVRDC), Shanhua, Taiwan
(Chinese cabbage, mungbean, pepper, tomato, soybean).
 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA),
Ibaban, Nigeria
 Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore (MP)

26.  JS335
 JS93-05
 JS95-60
 JS97-52
 JS20-29
 JS 20-34
 JS 20-69

27.  Breeding Field Crops. 4th Edition. JOHN M. POEHLMAN and DAVID A.
SLEPER. Iowa State University Press, 2121 S. State Ave., Ames, IA 50014. 1995.
Hardback, 510 pp., $64.95. ISBN 0-8138-2427-3.
 Singh P. and Bisen P., Commercial Plant Breeding Astral International Pvt. Ltd.
New Delhi, 2020. ISBN 978-93-89605-28-0 (PB)
 Choudhary P., Payasi SK, Patle N. (2017). Genetic Study and Selection Indices
for Grain Yield of Mungbean. Legume Research 40(5) : 836-841