Genome Editing and Precision Breeding Strategies for Sustainable Soybean Improvement

Abstract

The drawbacks of input-heavy agricultural growth - such as stagnant yields, environmental degradation and climate vulnerability - have made it necessary to reorient global agricultural strategy toward productivity gains that are also environmentally sustainable. This shift, widely termed the Second Green Revolution, emphasizes sustainable intensification: higher and more stable yields with a smaller environmental footprint, more efficient resource use, and greater resilience to biotic and abiotic stress. Genome editing, particularly CRISPR-Cas-based precision breeding, is examined here as the primary technological driver of this transition in the Indian context, because it enables targeted, often transgene-free trait improvement under a comparatively streamlined regulatory pathway (SDN-1/SDN-2). The three-decade global experience with genetically modified (GM) crops is discussed only as comparative background - both as an evidence base on the agronomic, economic and environmental performance of transgenic technologies, and as a policy lesson on the regulatory and public-acceptance challenges that genome editing must navigate differently. This paper positions India's recent genome-editing milestones (genome-edited rice, the approval of DMH-11 mustard, and progress in soybean genome editing) alongside a critical, evidence-based comparison of conventional breeding, transgenic (GM) crops and genome editing, with soybean developed as the central case study given its strategic importance to India's edible-oil security. It argues that genome editing, integrated with sound agronomic practice and transparent, policy-aligned governance, offers a scientifically grounded and practically feasible route to sustainable agricultural transformation in India.

Keywords

References

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