Variation of pod shattering of RIL population and selection for pod shattering tolerance in soybean [Glycine max Merr (L.)]

Pod shattering at maturing stage causes serious loss of yield in soybean. It is a main limiting factor of soybean cultivation and mechanization. For labor and cost saving, it is important to develop varieties suitable for mechanical harvesting as well as to develop the energy-efficient agricultural machinery. In particular, pod shattering tolerance is a pre-requisite trait for machine-harvestable cultivars in soybean. ‘Daewonkong’ developed by National Institute of Crop Science (NICS) in 1997 is an elite cultivar which occupies more than 80% of soybean cultivation area in Korea. Due to its relatively strong tolerance of pod shattering, farmers prefer to cultivate ‘Daewonkong’. The objectives of this study were to investigate the variation of pod shattering degree and agronomic traits in RIL population developed from ‘Daewonkong’ as a parent and to select promising lines with pod shattering tolerance.