Soybeans "different from the standard" gain space at the Rural Show

Dwarf soybean plants, pubescence-free (hairless) soybean plants, and even those with wavy leaves are among the curiosities that Embrapa Soja will present at the Technology Showcase during the Show Rural Coopavel, which will be held from February 9 to 13 in Cascavel (PR). Researchers have selected different types of soybeans from the approximately 65 thousand accessions stored in the Active Germplasm Bank (BAG) of Embrapa — one of the three largest soybean collections in the world. The objective is to show how the genetic variability of the crop expresses itself in visual (phenotypic) characteristics that are little known to the public. “The BAG is restricted to research institutions and the general community does not have access to it. For the first time, we are visually showing this richness,” says researcher Marcelo Fernandes de Oliveira from Embrapa Soja. According to him, the proposal is to visually show something that is normally not present in commercial soybeans. ...