Soybean: Breeding Challenges and Perspectives

Soybeans are economically and agriculturally important legumes and unique due to their high protein and oil contents. Soybean is used almost all across the globe for food, feed, and fuel as a feed crop for livestock and poultry. Conventional breeding methods are practiced for productivity improvement, which are cumbersome and time-consuming. With the advent of new biotechnological methods for the enhancement of traits (herbicide, pest, and disease resistance) , the process has become easier, rapid, and economical. However, for traits that are quantitative and multigenic, marker-assisted selection (MAS) for them may not be practical. With the unprecedented challenges of climate change, the requirement for new technologies and alternative approaches such as genetic tools, along with advanced plant breeding methodologies, to maintain soybean productivity and quality may be required. Genetic engineering (GE) techniques such as transgenesis and gene silencing help to minimize the risks and increase the adaptability of soybeans. Recently, new plant breeding technologies (NPBTs) have emerged for such a revolution in crop improvement, such as zinc-finger nucleases, along with others, which paved the way for enhanced genetic modifica tion and improvement of soybean in various breeding programs. In this chapter, the objectives and challenges of breeding and their perspectives have been summarized.