Crop Specific Safety Concerns Soybean

Every crop has a different relationship to the environment, which means environmental impact assessments must be conducted on a case-by-case basis. Different crops pose different threats when it comes to out-crossing or escaping cultivation. The following plant specific characteristics are taken into account for sound risk assessment.  

General information

Soybean is a subtropical plant, but it is cultivated from the tropics all the way to 52° north. It grows best on fertile, well-drained soils, but can tolerate a wide range of soil conditions. There is no known wild form of soybean.

Is out-crossing of trangenes from soybean possible?

Soy (Glycine max) originates presumably from the wild soybean (Glycine soja), which occurs in Asia and Australia. Some reports claim that soy could be a cultigen from another wild soy (Glycine ussuriensis), which grows in the Far East and in Russia.

In principle, it is possible for soybean to cross with other species from the genus Glycine and form fertile hybrids. Soy, however, is a self-pollinating plant. Self-pollination occurs before flowers open, which makes cross-pollination events very rare. 

Is soybean able to survive in the environment?

Due to its origin, soy requires subtropical conditions to survive. Soybean cannot withstand excessive heat or severe winters and prefers annual mean temperatures of 5.9 to 27°C. Soy can tolerate frost slightly better than maize, cowpeas, or field beans, but it is nonetheless sensitive to cold and cannot survive hard winter conditions.