GENETIC POTENTIAL OF SOYBEAN POPULATIONS FOR GRAIN YIELD AND FULL MATURITY

Abstract

Grain yield is one of the main traits of interest in developing new cultivars. In soybean, significant advancements have been made through optimized crop management, the application of appropriate inputs, effective agronomic practices, and the development of improved cultivars. Without the progress achieved through plant breeding over the last century, the cultivars available today would only support a population of a few million people, making it unlikely for the global population to have reached its current 8 billion (Borém et al., 2021).