March 2015

In This Newsletter

P.1

Success Stories

P.2

SIL Virtual Workshop:

Low-Latitude Soybeans

Meet a SIL Researcher

& Collaborator

Our Mission

The Feed the Future

Innovation Lab for

Soybean Value Chain

Research is USAID's

only comprehensive

program dedicated to

soybean research for

development. Our

international team of

tropical soybean experts

provides direct technical

support to researchers,

private sector firms,

non-governmental

organizations,

extensionists,

agronomists,

economists, and

technicians tasked with

soybean development.

Contact Us

Dr. Peter Goldsmith

Principal Investigator

pgoldsmi@illinois.edu

(217) 333-5131

Courtney Tamimie

Program Manager

tamimi@illinois.edu

(217) 333-7425

Website:

www.soybeaninnovation

lab.illinois.edu

Twitter:

@tropicalsoylab

Two Success Stories, One Mission Environmental Impact of Growing

Soy in the Tropics

A transition to soy-based

agriculture, and to best practices for

soybean growing and production, will

undoubtedly alter the local, regional,

and global environmental impacts in

the tropics. In order to evaluate the

environmental sustainability of the

transition to soybean production, SIL

researchers are assessing the local,

regional, and global environmental

impacts through local environmental

monitoring, life-cycle assessment

(LCA) and computational modeling.

SIL’s environmental

sustainability component is being led

by Dr. Jeremy Guest and PhD student

Kia Alexander at the University of

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. SIL

research seeks to understand the local,

regional and global environmental

implications of transitioning to soy in

Sub-Saharan Africa, and to use that

understanding to inform policies and

agricultural decision-making. The

environmental sustainability team are

traveling to Ghana this month to begin

environmental sampling at the

Soybean Innovation Lab’s SMART

(Soybean Management with

Appropriate Research and

Technology) Farm in Tamale, Ghana

in partnership with researchers at

Mississippi State University and the

Savanna Agricultural Research

Institute (SARI).

SIL researchers are looking at

issues related to soil and water quality,

erosion, land use change, agricultural

input use (inoculum, pesticides,

fertilizers), and other related factors to

measure the impact of soy production.

They are also evaluating how

agricultural mechanization,

transportation of inputs and output and

chemical and energy usage is changing

as a result of new farming methods,

and what unintended consequences

might result.

SIL’s environmental

stewardship research supports the

mission of the laboratory in providing

critical information needed for

successful soybean development in the

tropics.

Soybean Innovation Lab Newsletter

Above: These photos depict part of the SIL low-

latitude varietal adaptation evaluation. SIL

researchers are assessing characteristics in the plants

related to pod density, node number and plant height.

Below: University of Missouri PhD student Carrie

Miranda and Francisco Tacsan of Costa Rica Seeds

discuss how local farmers prefer certain plant types

for field management and harvesting in common bean

production.

Photo credit: Dr. Kristin Bilyeu

Low-processing soybean

development for household use

There is an opportunity to

increase the consumption of soybean at

the household level. Soybean is a

complex food to move from bean to

recipe, as household processing and

utilization have been two significant

barriers to adoption. Since soybean is a

non-native food stuff, Soybean

Innovation lab (SIL) researchers are

focusing on how training in the proper

handling, processing, and utilization of

soybean within local recipes in the

household affects the sustainability of

human soybean consumption.

A component of this research

also includes the development of a low-

processing soybean variety that does

not require traditional heating methods

as current varieties require processing

prior to utilization to remove anti-

nutritional factors. The low-processing

soybean variety will be tested to

determine if difficulty of processing is

a bottleneck for sustained household

soy consumption. The study of these

two key research areas will be

conducted in three target villages in

Mozambique. SIL human nutrition

research lead Dr. Marilyn Nash with

the University of Illinois is

collaborating with the International

Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

on the assessment.

Dr. Kristin Bilyeu with the

University of Missouri and the U.S.

Department of Agriculture’s

Agricultural Research Service (USDA-

ARS) is leading the efforts on the low-

processing soybean development. To

develop the variety, researchers have

identified methods for removing trypsin

inhibitors and lectin (KTI and Le), the

two factors that require heat processing

for utilization. The low KTI and Le null

traits are being selected and developed

from naturally occurring mutations and

combined with conventional breeding.

Dr. Bilyeu and PhD student

Carrie Miranda are in Costa Rica this

month evaluating experiments

underway to develop the low-

processing soybean. Dr. Bilyeu is

leveraging existing partnerships in

Costa Rica to evaluate the varietal

development in an environment with a

very close longitude to SIL’s research

efforts in northern Ghana.

SIL researchers at Mississippi State University acquired a used cone SIL soybean success kit supplies are packaged and ready for The above slide is taken from SIL extension material produced

planter for use by research partners in Ghana. The cone planter shipment to Ghana. The 1,200 kits are being distributed to in Portuguese for use in Mozambican villages where soybean

allows for any seeding rate or plot length. (Photo credit: Dr. Dan households in northern Ghana as part of SIL’s socio- success kits were distributed in 2014. This slide shows small-

Reynolds) economic research in collaboration with Catholic Relief holder farmers the proper planting depth for soybeans.

Services. (Photo credit: Kerry Clark) (Photo credit: Kerry Clak)

Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) researchers have developed

extension videos and guides for smallholder soybean production in

Ghana and Mozambique. The extension materials are used by SIL

research partners at the Mozambique Institute of Agricultural

Research (IIAM), Catholic Relief Services and the Ministry of

Food and Agriculture in Ghana. The extension video and guide

can be accessed on the SIL website at

www.soybeaninnovationlab.illinois.edu/soybean-extension.

The Soybean Innovation Lab brings together U.S. and African researchers to address the most challenging issues facing soybean production and

adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here we introduce the U.S. and African experts committed to providing a sound research foundation to achieve the

development to commercialization process of soybean in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Communicating research to stakeholders

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Meet a SIL Researcher & Collaborator

Dr. George Awuni is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate with

Mississippi State University’s Department of Plant and Soil

Sciences. Dr. Awuni is also the Manager of the Soybean Innovation

Lab’s SMART (Soybean Management with Appropriate

Technology) Farm based in Tamale, Ghana. As the SMART Farm

Manager Dr. Awuni oversees SIL’s agronomic research including

varietal testing, soil quality assessments, evaluation of inoculum and

phosphorous usage and evaluation of planting date on soybean

production. Dr. Awuni is a native of Ghana and devotes six months

every year to overseeing the planting, harvest and evaluation at

SIL’s SMART Farm.

www.soybeaninnovationlab.illinois.edu

@tropicalsoylab

Dr. Nicholas Denwar is a Research Scientist in Genetics and Plant

Breeding at the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in

Tamale, Ghana. Dr. Denwar is an integral partner of the Soybean

Innovation Lab’s germplasm and breeding efforts which seeks to

identify new, high-yielding varieties that are adapted to low latitude

environments. Dr. Denwar received his PhD in Agronomy from

Texas Tech University’s Department of Plant and Soil Science in

Lubbock, Texas. Before working with SARI, Dr. Denwar served as

an Agricultural Extension Office with the Ghanaian Ministry of Food

and Agriculture. Dr. Denwar also holds degrees from the University

of Ghana, Legon and the University of Science and Technology in

Kumasi, Ghana.