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
(217) 333-5131
Courtney Tamimie
Program Manager
(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.