Evaluation of soybean (Glycine max L.) adaptation to northern European regions under different agro-climatic scenarios

Abstract

Soybean is a candidate crop to increase the independency of Europe in leguminous protein crops. However, its adaptation to northern European regions is not yet well defined due to lack of long-term references. Herein, we simulated soybean yield potential in northern France and identified the main yield limiting factors under rainfed vs irrigated conditions. Two cultivars representing maturity groups 000 and 00 were planted within three different trials. Leaf area index, shoot and pod biomass, main phenological stages and yield were recorded to evaluate CROPGRO-soybean model predictability. Adjustment of genetic coefficients was performed prior to simulate yield on 21-years weather database (1999-2018) at Beauvais (France, N 49.46°, E 2.07°) and Estrées-Mons (France, N 49.88°, E 3.01°) under different water regimes and planting dates. Predictions showed that adding irrigation at grain filling period would increase yield potential to the level of non-water limited scenarios. Although simulated yield variability is reduced with irrigation, the remaining variability suggests that water is not the only yield-limiting factor. A tentative explanation is proposed by deriving environmental covariates from the model. The analysis confirmed the importance of precipitation amount (optimum around 200 mm) and duration (optimum around 60 days) of the flowering to physiological maturity period under rainfed conditions. Under irrigated conditions, increasing evapotranspiration and average minimum temperature affected simulated yield positively while increasing the number of days below 10°C had a negative impact. These results give insights for soybean crop management and bring indications to breeders for adapting the existing genetic material to northern Europe.

Response of a Diverse European Soybean Collection to “Short Duration” and “Long Duration” Drought Stress

“…The thermal time from sowing to pod maturity (R8) was also not correlated with R2R5 or R5R8. A long duration of reproductive development has been proposed as a strategy to improve soybean yield without affecting the total length of the growing cycle ( Metz et al, 1985 ; Cooper, 2003 ), and a simulation study predicted a positive relationship between yield and the thermal time to flowering and pod maturity in Northern Europe ( Boulch et al, 2021 ). Our results indicate that the EUCLEG collection contains accessions with the required combination of a long duration of reproductive development and high values of yield traits, with possibly no direct impact on the total length of the growing period.…”

“…In soybean, a longer period of grain filling has been shown to be advantageous for yield potential at high latitudes ( Cooper, 2003 ). A simulation study estimated an optimum grain filling duration of 60 days for soybean in Northern France ( Boulch et al, 2021 ). In our experiments, drought lengthened the duration of seed development (R5R8, corresponding to the seed filling duration), which was due to an earlier shift to R5 (start of seed formation) which led a shortening of R2R5 (corresponding to the period during which new flowers and pods are formed).…”

“…Despite this fast increase in acreage and production volume, local soybean cultivation accounts for only 34% of the total 34.4 million tons consumed in Europe ( IDH and IUCN NL, 2019 ; FAOSTAT, 2021 ). The selection of adapted varieties through breeding, is an essential step to end European dependence on imported soybean ( Van Schoote, 2012 ; IDH and IUCN NL, 2019 ; Würschum et al, 2019 ; Boulch et al, 2021 ). The industry recognizes this need, with several European breeding programs already underway including those in Austria (Saatbau Linz), Belgium (Storm Seeds and Protealis), France (RAGT), Germany (IG Pflanzenzucht and University of Hohenheim), and Serbia (IFVCNS).…”

Soybean resilience to drought is supported by partial recovery of photosynthetic traits

“…Soybean ( Glycine max L.) is worldwide the most cropped legume, as it represents a vital source of vegetable protein for both humans and livestock ( Wang et al., 2022 ). Soybean is sensitive to low soil moisture, however, it is adapted to a large range of temperatures, and its cultivation is extended toward Northern Europe ( Boulch et al., 2021 ; Karges et al., 2022 ). Despite that, little is known about the soybean response and resilience capacity to various drought events at different growth stages, under European conditions.…”

Genetic control of resistance to drought stress in soybean

“…This requires breeding soybean varieties welladapted to the European environmental and cultivation conditions. While North West Europe is often considered a humid region, simulations have demonstrated that water can be the main limiting factor in soybean production, because in general water availability is not well distributed along the crop cycle [52]. In addition, drought spells associated with low rainfall and high temperature are becoming more frequent in Europe during the summer [53][54][55], and forecasts on climatic change predict that the frequency of these events will increase in the future [56].…”