Soybean pods on soybean plant on a sunny day. Soybean pods on soybean plant on a sunny day.

International Partnership to Accelerate Soybean Development

Washington, D.C.

  • Production Systems

Hybrid seeds, produced by cross-pollinating crops to improve the offspring’s characteristics, have higher yields and can increase farmer profits. However, creating hybrids is labor-intensive and difficult to perform on many popular crops, including soybeans. To increase yield and profit for soybean farmers, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and its Crops of the Future (COTF) Collaborative partners Bayer, KWS and United Soybean Board are providing a $4,050,000 grant to the ApoSoy project to develop a lower-cost process for producing hybrid soybeans.

Portrait of Munkvold.

Creating consistently high yielding soybean at lower prices will be a boon to farmers in the U.S. and around the world growing a commonly consumed, nutritional and versatile crop.

 Kathy Munkvold, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Cultivating Thriving Production Systems

Although hybrid seeds outperform their parents in yield, this advantage does not transfer to the hybrids’ offspring. Breeders must continually cross-pollinate to develop the next generation of hybrids. Because soybeans reproduce through self-pollination, the structure of the soybean flower makes cross-pollination difficult and expensive. The ApoSoy project seeks to develop a cost-effective hybrid soybean system through a process called apomixis, which creates seeds that are genetic clones of the parent.

To address farmers’ needs and to broaden their toolbox, we join forces with partners of all sizes to help actively seek new creative ideas in the ag space.This way, it fuels fundamental shifts in thinking while helping to shape the agriculture of tomorrow.

 JD Rossouw
Breeding lead in Bayer’s Crop Science division

The ApoSoy research team involves an international collaboration from Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, University of Regensburg, Radboud University, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and University of Zurich. The researchers are developing various apomixis technologies in model plants and transferring these techniques to soybeans to create a hybrid seed with offspring that produces high yields without the need for cross-pollination.

ApoSoy brings together experts in plant reproduction who are researching all developmental facets involved in apomixis that, when combined, may lead to pathways to achieve efficient asexual reproduction in legumes.

 Dr. Peggy Ozias-Akins
Distinguished research professor at University of Georgia and project co-principal investigator.

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Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR was established in the 2014 Farm Bill to increase public agriculture research investments, fill knowledge gaps and complement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research agenda. FFAR’s model matches federal funding from Congress with private funding, delivering a powerful return on taxpayer investment. Through collaboration and partnerships, FFAR advances actionable science benefiting farmers, consumers and the environment.

Connect: @FoundationFAR 

ID: 23-000876