Achievements and prospects of molecular breeding for drought tolerance in soybean [Glycine max (L.) merr.]

Drought stress is one of the most serious constraints of soybean production worldwide. While the drought tolerance is one of the most complex attributes for soybean breeders to deal with. Due to complex (quantitative) nature of drought tolerance trait, the progress to develop drought tolerant plants is slow. Molecular breeding thus emerged as a necessary approach in soybean breeding programs. A plethora of genetic information regarding the functional genomics and other molecular resources is available. The effective and astute use of these resources will certainly facilitate the breeders to develop soybean cultivars tolerant to drought