Methodological fundamentals of the breeding process in soybean and its improving modifications at VNIIMK (review)

Soybean breeding at the V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops (VNIIMK) is based on a modified bulk-method. The entire breeding process is divided into five successive stages. At the 1st stage, a nursery of germplasm material (NGM) is formed. Its main task is to study and select promising parental forms for crossbreeding for the implementation of modern adaptive varietal models that are potentially capable of eliminating the shortcomings and limitations of existing varieties. At the 2nd stage, a promising parental nursery (PN) is formed from promising varieties of NGM, in which artificial crosses are performed. To increase the efficiency of hybridization, VNIIMK has developed a unique technology of crossbreeding using microscopes, which allows increasing the effectiveness of this operation by 25-30%. At the 3rd stage, the resulting hybrid progenies are studied in hybrid nurseries (HN) F1-F4. At VNIIMK there is used a modified breeding scheme for promising hybrid individuals in F2 and F3 based on positive bulk-method...