There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirable plant germplasm.  Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definition of problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishment of program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.  The next step is selection of germplasm that possess the traits to meet the program goals.  The goal is to combine in a single cultivar an improved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm.  These important traits may include higher seed yield, resistance to diseases and insects, better stems and roots, tolerance to drought and heat, and better agronomic quality. 
Soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]  are recognized to be naturally self-pollinated plants, while capable of undergoing cross-pollination, rarely do so in nature.  However, soybeans can be bred by both self-pollination and cross-pollination techniques.  Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plant reproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and the type of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid cultivar, pureline cultivar, etc.).  For highly heritable traits, a choice of superior individual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective, whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based on mean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of related plants.  Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, mass selection, and recurrent selection. 
The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.  Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes for a highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar.  This approach has been used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.  Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improve quantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes.  The use of recurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease of pollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination, and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross. 
Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation of the efficiency of the breeding procedure.  Evaluation criteria vary depending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain from selection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard, overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successful cultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollar expended, etc.) 
Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared to appropriate standards in environments representative of the commercial target area(s) for three or more years.  The best lines are candidates for new commercial cultivars; those still deficient in a few traits may be used as parents to produce new populations for further selection. 
These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing and distribution, usually take from eight to 12 years from the time the first cross is made.  Therefore, development of new cultivars is a time-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficient use of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction. 
A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that are genetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic value is masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors.  One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performance relative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standard cultivar.  If a single observation is inconclusive, replicated observations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth. 
The goal of plant breeding is to develop new, unique and superior soybean cultivars and hybrids.  The breeder initially selects and crosses two or more parental lines, followed by repeated selfing and selection, producing many new genetic combinations.  The breeder can theoretically generate billions of different genetic combinations via crossing, selfing and mutations.  The breeder has no direct control at the cellular level.  Therefore, two breeders will never develop the same line, or even very similar lines, having the same soybean traits. 
Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to the next generation.  This germplasm is grown under unique and different geographical, climate and soil conditions, and further selections are then made during and at the end of the growing season.  The development of new cultivars is unpredictable.  This unpredictability is because the breeder's selection occurs in unique environments, with no control at the DNA level (using conventional breeding procedures,) and with millions of different possible genetic combinations being generated.  A breeder of ordinary skill in the art cannot predict the final resulting lines he develops, except possibly in a very gross and general fashion.  The same breeder cannot produce the same cultivar twice by using the exact same original parents and the same selection techniques.  Thus, many cultivates that are developed do not contain a desired trait or set of traits and are dropped from further development.  This inability to predict the genotype or phenotype of the final resulting cultivars results in the expenditure of large amounts of research monies to develop new soybean cultivars. 
The development of new soybean cultivars requires the development and selection of soybean cultivars, the crossing of these cultivars and selection of superior hybrid crosses.  The hybrid seed is produced by manual crosses between selected male-fertile parents or by using male sterility systems.  These hybrids are selected for certain single gene traits such as pod color, flower color, pubescence color and/or herbicide resistance which indicate that the seed is truly a hybrid.  Additional data on parental lines as well as the phenotype of the hybrid influence a breeder's decision whether to continue with the specific hybrid cross.  Proper testing will detect the level of superiority or improvement over current cultivars. 
Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used to develop cultivars from breeding populations.  Breeding programs combine desirable traits from two or more cultivars or various broad-based sources into breeding pools from which cultivars are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes.  The new cultivars are evaluated to determine which have commercial potential. 
Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement of self-pollinating crops.  Two parents that possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed to produce an F1.  An F2 population is produced by selfing one or several F1's.  Selection of the best individuals may begin in the F2 population; then, beginning in the F3 the best individuals in the families are selected.  Replicated testing of families can begin in the F4 generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability.  At an advanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F6 and F7,) the best lines or mixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potential release as new cultivars. 
Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations of either self- or cross-pollinating crops.  A genetically variable population of heterozygous individuals is either identified or created by intercrossing several different parents.  The best plants are selected based on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellent combining ability.  The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a new population in which further cycles of selection are continued. 
Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simply inherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivar or inbred line, which is the recurrent parent.  The source of the trait to be transferred is called the donor parent.  The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.  After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of the donor parent are selected and repeatedly crossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent.  The resulting plant is expected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. 
The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to planting a segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plant the next generation.  When the population has been advanced from the F2 to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace to different F2 individuals.  The number of plants in a population declines each generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed.  As a result, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the population will be represented by a progeny when the generation advance is completed. 
In a multiple-seed procedure, soybean breeders commonly harvest one or more pods from each plant in a population and thresh them together to form a bulk.  Part of the bulk is used to plant the next generation and part is put in reserve.  The procedure has been referred to as modified single-seed descent or the pod-bulk technique. 
The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest.  It is considerably faster to thresh pods with a machine than to remove one seed from each by hand for the single-seed procedure.  The multiple-seed procedure also makes it possible to plant the same number of seeds of a population each generation of inbreeding.  Enough seeds are harvested to make up for those plants that did not germinate or produce seed. 
Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used for different traits and crops can be found in several reference books (e.g., Allard R. W., Principles of Plant Breeding (Wiley & Sons, 1999); Simmonds N. W., Principles of Crop Improvement (Longman, 1979); SneepJ., Hendriksen A. J. T., Plant Breeding Perspectives (Centre for Agricultural Publishing, 1979.)