Food and Nutritional Security: Innovative Approaches for Improving Micronutrient Use Efficiency in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) Under Hostile Soils

Food demand is increasing day by day due to the growing population. Soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the future’s important food and nutritional security crops. The limitation of crop productivity by micronutrients is widespread and may increase in the future. In the past, applying fertilizer was a quick solution for managing micronutrient deficiency in the soil. But, it is only a temporary solution, and the high market cost of fertilizer is not affordable for poor farmers. Soybean improvement will promote sustainable crop production, addressing hostile soils and various climatic changes. It also helps to provide enough food and nutrients for a growing population. Progress in genome sequencing techniques helps to improve soybean in different ways. The genomic approaches help identify the traits/genes/alleles associated with micronutrient use efficiency in soybean. This information is essential for soybean improvement through advanced breeding approaches. Various genome-based approaches are available for soybean improvement in the pre- and post-genomic era. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) was very attractive for soybean improvement in the pre-genomic era. Post-genomic era approaches such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genomic selection (GS), functional genomics/allele mining, and genome editing (GE) could help to improve micronutrient use efficiency in soybean. Here, we review the past decade’s pre- and post-genomic research progress in soybean’s improvement. It may provide insight into long-term solutions to soil micronutrient deficiencies worldwide. We hope this comprehensive review will help plant breeders and agronomists understand the various innovative approaches used to improve the micronutrient use efficiencies in soybean. It may help in strengthening nutritional and food security in the future.