A large global land area is affected by saline, alkali (sodic), and acid soil conditions . Cool season food legumes are important crops in many countries with such adverse soils . Tolerant genotypes have been identified in many crops, including legumes. However, very little has been published on selection of tolerant cool season food legume crops . The inadequate knowledge and understanding of the responses of cool season food legume crops to these abiotic stresses, necessitates action by a collaborative network of interdisciplinary teams to make rapid progress in identifying tolerant germplasm and developing cultivars better adapted to unfavorable soil conditions .

Registration of 'Manokin' Soybean 'Manokin' soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (Reg. no. CV-347, P1 559932) was developed by the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station. Itwas jointly released in 1991 with the Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, andVirginiaAgriculturalExperimentStations. Manokin was released because of its superior yield compared with cultivars of similar maturity and its resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) derived from Peking. Manokin originated as an F4-derived plant selection from the cross L70L-3048 x D74-7824. L70L-3048 was a selection from the cross LIS ('Wayne' Rpsl) x D64-3146 made at the Univ. of Illinois (2).