Genetic improvement of soybean through induced mutagenesis

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merril) is one of the important oilseed crops of India. The country produces more than 9.00 million tonnes of soybean per annum and has acquired first place amongst oilseed crops grown in India. Narrow genetic base of cultivated varieties in soybean is of global concern. Efficient mutant production systems, through physical or chemical mutagenesis, have been well established in soybean. A vast amount of genetic variability, of both quantitative and qualitative traits, has been generated through experimental mutagenesis. Two soybean varieties TAMS-38 and TAMS 98-21 have been developed and released for commercial cultivation by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). In this paper the role of mutation breeding in soybean improvement has been discussed. (author)