SOYBEAN GENETIC RESOURCES AND THEIR EVALUATION

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the important crop in the United
States and the world's richest source of protein and leading source of
vegetable oil. It has the.unique protein and oil combination (40% protein
and 20% oil). Although soybean is a new crop in our country, it has
occupied a substantial acreage in the last 22 years from 3000 hectares
in 1968 to presently nearly 20 lakh hectares. The National Bureau of
Plant Genetic Resources is engaged in collection/exchange,
characterisation/evaluation, documentation and conservation of genetic
diversity of soybean for the last two decades. A total of 2,639 accessions
of soybean from diverse agro-climatic zones of the world (from 30
countries including India), were evaluated for two years i.e., 1988 and
1989. Data were recorded on 21 agro-botanical and economic characters
and donors were identified for different economic traits, viz., high yield,
early maturity, bold seeds, resistance to bacterial pustule and pod blight,
high seed longevity/germinability, resistance/tolerance to pod shattering
and high oil content. These donors can be utilized either as parental
material in hybridization or as direct selections for crop improvement
programme.