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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research » Research » Research Project #439442

Research Project: Drought Resiliency for the Farm-Yield Limitations of Commercial Soybean Varieties Under Drought (Year 3 of a 3-year project - MO)

Location: Soybean and Nitrogen Fixation Research

Project Number: 6070-21220-069-087-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 1, 2020
End Date: Sep 30, 2021

Objective:
Develop drought-tolerant cultivars adapted to locations in Missouri and other drought-prone U.S. environments that will aid farmers with variety choices and guide new public-private breeding efforts to fix the drought problem.

Approach:
Yield evaluation of extreme wilting RILs: 22 contrasting RILs (MG III) were selected from 2 mapping populations derived from slow-wilting PIs 567690 (MG III) and PI 567731 (MG III). These lines were tested in drought stress conditions in rainfed field in 2018 season in Portageville, MO. Based on canopy wilting scores, the RILs were arbitrarily grouped into two groups – slow-wilting (1 - 2.5) and fast-wilting (2.6 - 5.0). These RILs will be evaluated for yield in 4-row plots in rainfed and irrigated conditions and for canopy wilting in 2020 season. The lines will also be evaluated for seed quality traits, such as, 100-seed weight, seed protein and oil content. A set of 202 RILs derived from the mapping population S05-11482 x PI 458515 (slow-wilting) will be grown in short single row plots in 2 replications in rainfed field. The lines will be phenotyped for canopy wilting during vegetative or early reproductive stages. A set of about 340 diverse MG IV and MG V exotic soybeans will be planted in single row plots in 2 replications in rainfed field for evaluation of canopy wilting trait.