Updated February 1, 2021:
Covid-19 did and continues to have an impact on research in 2020. However, despite numerous restrictions and limitations, ~80% of our drought related research projects were planted. If it wasn’t for the extraordinary effort put forth by the drought team, we would have missed out on a very good year for drought research. While drought research in the lab and in the greenhouse is very important, field screening, especially in an open-air environment is monumental for making key discoveries in soybean drought research. This allows us to evaluate material in the same growing conditions as farmers were experiencing. In 2020, severe drought conditions were observed from the Midwest to the Southeast. In late August nearly half of Iowa was reported to be in a “severe or extreme drought,” according the USDA’s weekly drought monitor, right at the time soybeans were setting pods. So, it is not a question of if a drought will occur, it is more about when it occurs and how much damage it causes. During course of this project, we have harvested and processed over 8,800 yield plots. Yield trials were conducted under irrigated and rainfed conditions and yield retention index under drought was calculated for the drought lines and compared with popular commercial checks. We have identified several lines with high drought yield index and slow wilting trait.