ABSTRACT
The goal of the art and science of plant breeding is to create genetically diverse gene pools and then devise strategies to consolidate the favourable alleles and eliminate those that are adverse to the objectives. Genetic diversity is the fuel that powers plant breeding but it is also the largest impediment to progress. Historically, most cultivar development programmes seem to operate with the assumption that the latter is more important than the former. In this chapter, the major soybean germplasm collections of the world which are the sources of available genetic diversity are briefly described. The formation of the current commercially used gene pool for soybean breeding in North America, some reasons why it has served us very well and some concerns about its limitations will be reviewed. This chapter also presents the perspective that adding new genetic diversity can improve the rate of gain for seed yield and how the various sources of exotic germplasm can be utilized within different segments of a national soybean programme.
