Genetic progress of soybean varieties released during 1969 to 2008 in India

The study undertaken to assess the genetic changes on yield, agronomic traits and foliar diseases during the last 39 years (1969 to 2008), revealed 103.5% yield improvement over the years @ 2.6% per year. The annual genetic gain in seed yield of soybean varieties released in India during this period was approximately 23 kg ha⁻¹. This yield increase was assigned to increase in number of pods and seeds per plant. Seeds per plant increased by 1.56% per year. Foliar diseases decreased consistently over the period. Varieties namely Kalitur, Bragg, Punjab 1, PK 308, PK 471, JS 71–05, NRC 2, PS 1042, JS 93–05 and PS 1347 were stable over the seasons for the yield. Varieties namely Kalitur, Bragg, Punjab 1 and PS 1042 were found suitable in unfavorable seasons while varieties viz., PK 308, PK 471, JS 71–05, NRC 2, JS 93–05 and PS 1347 were found suitable in favorable seasons. None of the varieties was found consistently superior for all the characters in all the seasons.