In vitro Regeneration and Genetic Transformation of Soybean: Current Status and Future Prospects

Soybean is now an essential and dominant source of protein and oil with numerous uses in feed, food and industrial applications. It is the world’s primary source of vegetable oil and protein feed supplement for livestock. The global production of soybeans is 250-260 million tons per year. The US is the largest producer with 90.6 million metric tons. Other major countries such as Brazil, Argentina, China and India contributing 70, 49.5, 15.2 and 9.6 mil‐ lion metric tons, respectively [2]. The US, Brazil and Argentina are the major exporters of beans; while China and Europe are the major importers. The annual world market value is around 2 billion US dollars, which stands second in world food production.