Improving Edamame with Dr. Bo Zhang

“‘VT Sweet’: A vegetable soybean cultivar for commercial edamame production in the Mid-Atlantic U.S.” with Dr. Bo Zhang Edamame, or edible soybean, is a popular snack. However, due to a lack of US specific soybean varieties, domestic production hasn’t been able to keep up with consumer demand. In this episode, Bo discusses her work breeding varieties that are better suited to US growing conditions, all while improving characteristics consumers enjoy. Tune in to learn: What are some of the key differences between edamame and soybean What are the relationships between seed size, emergence, and yield How breeders know when their new variety is ready How new varieties move from the researcher to the market If you would like more information about this topic, this episode’s paper is available here: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20140 This paper is always freely available. Contact us at podcast@sciencesocieties.org or on Twitter @FieldLabEarth if you have comments, questions, or suggestions for show topics, and if you want more content like this don’t forget to subscribe. If you’d like to see old episodes or sign up for our newsletter, you can do so here: https://fieldlabearth.libsyn.com/. If you would like to reach out to Bo, you can find her here: bozhang@vt.edu https://www.instagram.com/vasoybreeding/ If you would like to reach out to Jyoti Prasad Kakati from our Student Spotlight, you can find him here: jkakati@clemson.edu https://www.clemson.edu/cafls/faculty_staff/profiles/jkakati https://www.facebook.com/jyotiprasadkakati https://www.linkedin.com/in/jyoti-prasad-kakati-b867b021/ Resources CEU Quiz: https://web.sciencesocieties.org/Learning-Center/Courses/Course-Detail?productid=%7b50B8C45B-144F-ED11-BBA1-000D3A32318B%7d  Transcripts: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/z5fvHqO9IMx6Fekv9ty2tL0Qs96XdtwirRkyoPLWJxmuU6fD7kp9ck_1nhtJsGbwOV9u355j7ThmoH0aS4DOpehljcs?loadFrom=SharedLink Edamame Project: https://edamameproject.weebly.com/ Sponsored by Gasmet Technologies. Check out more information at www.gasmet.com. See the GT-5000 Terra in action and the quick setup video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGgWkokLN10. Contact for more information at sales@gasmet.com.   Sponsored by METER Group. METER sensors deliver real-time, plant, soil, and atmospheric data that fuels environmental research. Listen to METER Group’s new podcast We Measure the World to hear how innovative researchers leverage environmental data to make our world a better—and more sustainable—place at metergroup.com/fieldlabearth Field, Lab, Earth is Copyrighted by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.