CFCRA Soybean Cluster: Activity 8 – Breeding food grade soybean varieties or germplasm for high yield, better quality or pest resistance
Principal Investigator: Kangfu Yu and Owen Wally
Research Institution: Harrow Research & Development Centre, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
Objectives:
- Develop food grade soybean cultivars (maturity group 2-2.5) and germplasm with improved yield, good quality, and disease resistance for domestic and export markets.
- Develop food grade soybean germplasm with unique qualities for niche markets, such as low or null lipoxygenase traits for soymilk and/or soy beverages and unique protein profiles for specific food and processing uses.
Impacts:
- The development and release of non-GM soybean varieties with enhanced properties for soyfood manufacturing has the potential to increase the global market share for Canadian soybean producers, particularly in Asian and Pacific Rim markets.
- The development of novel breeding selection technologies accelerate screening for germplasm and variety development, improve selection accuracy and efficiency, and reduce the program input costs to maximize return on investment in research partnerships.
- The development of disease resistant varieties has the potential to maximize profitability for Canadian soybean growers while protecting agro-environmental health.
Scientific Summary:
This activity targeted the development of food grade non-GM soybean varieties with increased yields and SCN-resistance for maturity group (MG) 2.0-2.5 growing regions.
This activity also targeted the development of food grade soybean germplasm with unique qualities for niche markets, such as low or null lipoxygenase traits for soymilk and/or soy beverages; specific protein profiles for specific food and processing uses.
Results:
Seven new soybean cultivars (described below) were developed and registered as certified food grade soybean varieties with the Canadian Seed Growers Association (CSGA).
Variety | Relative Maturity | Description |
AAC Wigle | 2.2 | A high yielding, high-protein, large-seeded, SCN resistant food grade variety with yellow hilum and acceptable processing quality for foreign and domestic tofu, soymilk, and miso markets. It is well adapted to areas of southwestern Ontario with 3200 or more crop heat units, and has a protein content of 45.8% |
AAC Big Ben | 2.3 | A high yielding, SCN resistant food grade variety with yellow hilum and acceptable processing quality for foreign and domestic tofu, soymilk, and miso markets. It is adapted to areas of southwestern Ontario with 3300 or more CHUs |
AAC McRae | 2.2 | A high yielding food grade soybean with yellow hilum, high protein concentration, and acceptable processing quality for foreign and domestic tofu, soymilk, and miso markets. It has excellent SCN and soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS) resistance. It is adapted to areas of southwestern Ontario with 3100 or more CHUs |
AAC Nancy | 2.5 | A high yielding, high protein, large seeded yellow hilum food grade cultivar with excellent levels of resistance to SCN and SDS |
AAC Richard | 2.3 | A food grade cultivar with yellow hilum, high protein concentration, and good processing quality for foreign and domestic soymilk, tofu, and miso markets. It has resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and is adapted to areas of southwest Ontario with 3100 or more CHUs |
OX-221* | 2.5 | A high yielding food grade soybean with imperfect yellow hilum and good field resistance to SCN for the tofu and soymilk markets |
OX-222* | 2.5 | A high yielding, food grade soybean cultivar with yellow hilum and resistance to SCN for the tofu and soymilk markets |
*OX-221 and OX-222 were considered for licensing through the AAFC variety request for proposal process in March 2023.
In addition to the development of new soybean varieties, specialty soybean germplasm was also developed and registered to Plant Gene Resources of Canada. This specialty soybean germplasm provides valuable genetic material for use by other public and private soybean breeders to incorporate traits of interest into their breeding programs and further supports growth in the Canadian soybean industry.
The following lines listed in the following table were developed and registered with Plant Genetic Resources Canada in 2022:
Trait | Germplasm | Registration Nr. |
a’ | HS 221 | CN124006 |
a’ A1A2 | HS 222 | CN124007 |
a’ A3A4 | HS 223 | CN124008 |
a’ A3A1A2 | HS 224 | CN124009 |
A3 | HS 225 | CN124010 |
A3A4 | HS 226 | CN124011 |
A3A1A2 | HS 227 | CN124012 |
External Funding Partners:
This activity was funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program, with industry support from the Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA) whose members include: Atlantic Grains Council; Producteurs de grains du Quebec; Grain Farmers of Ontario; Manitoba Corn Growers Association; Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers; Saskatchewan Pulse Growers; Prairie Oat Growers Association; SeCan; and FP Genetics.
Project Related Publications:
Yu, K., Woodrow, L., & Shi, C. 2022. AAC McRae soybean. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 102(3): 773-775.
Yu, K., Woodrow, L., & Shi, C. 2022. AAC Richard soybean. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 102(3): 796-798.