Breeding Soybean Cultivars Adapted to Georgia and the Southeastern USA

Summary

Develop soybean cultivars adapted to the Southeastern USA that are high-yielding, herbicide tolerant, and disease, nematode and insect resistant, and possess other economically valuable traits.

Situation

Soybeans are the world's largest source of animal protein feed and the second largest source of vegetable oil. The United States is the leading soybean producer and exporter. Increasing yield and reducing the cost of production is imperative to increase soybean production in the Southeast. The most effective strategy to accomplish these goals is to develop high yielding, multiple-disease and pest resistant cultivars with value-enhanced traits. Weeds are a major production problem and development of herbicide tolerance cultivars will help farms control weeds. We have accessed to Monsanto second generation glyphosate tolerant technology and Bayer’s LibertyLink which provides tolerance to glufosinate herbicide for better weed control. The southeastern USA has become a unique production environment for soybean with its unique soil types and pest problems. Development of highly resistant soybean cultivars will be most economic and effective way to control diseases in soybean. Given the destructive potential of the diseases and insects and the cost of their controls, it is crucial to accelerate the development of disease and insect resistant soybean cultivars to protect the stability of soybean yield

Response

The general breeding strategy will be crossing elite cultivars, adapted breeding lines, and improved germplasm to combine the characteristics such as high yield, protein content, improved oil quality, resistance to soybean cyst nematode, root-knot nematode, defoliating insects, frogeye leaf spot, stem canker, and soybean rust. Maker-assisted selection (MAS) for disease and insect resistance and other key agronomic traits are conducted in F2 or F3 generation as well as at plat row stage. Advanced breeding lines will be evaluated for nematode resistance in greenhouse and other disease and insect assays will be conducted in greenhouse or field in conjunction with second yield trial by collaborating with Drs. James Buck, Jim Noe and John All. Selection for yield is conducted at F6, F7 or F8 generation due to its relatively low heritability. The Attapulgus research station in southwest Georgia is used for screening breeding lines for rust resistance in the field. Yield test will be primarily conducted at UGA Iron Horse Farm (IHF) in Watkinsville, GA and Southwest Georgia Research and Education Center in Plains, GA

Impact

Southeastern and Mid-South soybean producers will be the primary beneficiaries of this research through the development of new genetic materials with higher seed yields and reduced production costs. A balanced approach of higher seed protein plus oil combinations for 48% protein soymeal will make southern soybean competitive with those from South America for the global export market. Soybean cyst nematode and root-knot nematode resistance, or Asian soybean rust resistance combined with herbicide resistance will protect production stability while providing greater value to the poultry and swine industries. Alternative herbicide resistance technologies (such as LibertyLink®) will help combat emerging weed issues, such as glyphosate-resistant pigweed. Over past six years, 12 soybean germplasm and seven soybean cultivars have been released from UGA Soybean breeding program

State Issue

Plant Production

Details

• Year: 2018
• Geographic Scope: Multi-State/Regional
• County: Clarke
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources