Soybean, as a plant species, is native to regions with conditions favourable
of humidity and temperatures for its growth and development. The expansion
of the soybean growing area resulted in requirements of varieties with
higher tolerance and more stable grain yield under drought conditions. In
order to develop high yielding varieties, the method of full-sib (FS)
selection was applied in this study, as one of many methods of recurrent
selection. The basic principle of recurrent selection is a cyclic selection,
with the aim to accumulate favourable alleles. Three most yielding F2:3
sister lines obtained from the crossing combination of varieties Kunitz and
Kador, were used for two combinations. Progenies of two FS crossing
combinations were tested in two locations during two years (2011 with more
favourable and 2012 with less favourable precipitation distribution). The
values of grain yield per plant, the most important components of yield and
morphological traits decreased under less favourable conditions. The highest
decrease was recorded in the number of pods and the number of grains per
plant, whereas the lowest decrease was found for the 1000-grain weight.
Regardless of the relatedness of the tested material, significant
differences in response to drought were observed not only between two FS
progenies, but also within progenies of each combination. Soybean grain
yield is a complex trait strongly affected by environmental conditions.
Under unfavourable conditions, the reductions in the following traits were
observed in progenies of two sister combinations: grain yield per plant
(26.5-36.0% and 25.6-42.7%), number of pods per plant (18.6-33.0% and
12.6-38.2%) and the number of grains per plant (18.1-30.2% and 14.3-37.6%).
Three progenies of FS crossings with the lowest yield reduction were
identified as suitable initial material for the development of varieties
with higher tolerance to drought conditions.