AAC Richard is a food grade soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivar with yellow hilum, high protein concentration, and good processing quality for foreign and domestic soymilk, tofu, and miso markets. It has resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe). AAC Richard was developed at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Harrow Research and Development Centre (Harrow-RDC), Harrow, Ontario, and is adapted to areas of southwest Ontario with 3100 or more crop heat units and has a relative maturity of 2.3 (MG 2.3).
Introduction
AAC Richard is a food grade soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivar with resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN) (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) developed at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Harrow Research and Development Centre (Harrow-RDC), Harrow, Ontario. AAC Richard is intended for use in tofu, soymilk, and miso production in foreign and domestic markets. It yielded the same as AAC Malden, the check cultivar. In tests conducted at Harrow-RDC, AAC Richard had acceptable processing quality that can be used to make tofu and demonstrated good soymilk characteristics. A Certificate of Eligibility for Certification no 2461–2021 was issued for OX-191 (AAC Richard) by the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association on the 9 November 2021.
Pedigree and Breeding Method
AAC Richard (tested as OX-191; SN12-0037D-2-8E) is a high protein, large-seeded, food grade soybean cultivar with a yellow hilum and resistance to SCN. It was developed at the AAFC Harrow-RDC in Harrow, Ontario, from the cross AAC Malden/OAC Marvel made in 2012. AAC Malden is a SCN resistant soybean cultivar developed by Harrow-RDC (Poysa et al. 2013). OAC Marvel is a SCN resistant soybean cultivar developed by the University of Guelph ( https://inspection.canada.ca/active/netapp/regvar/regvare.aspx?id=4152).
AAC Richard was developed by pedigree selection. It is adapted to areas of southwestern Ontario with 3100 or more crop heat units and has a relative maturity (MG) of 2.3.
F1 seeds were produced in the field during summer 2012 and planted in the greenhouse in the fall of 2012 at Harrow. The F3 plants grown in the field at Harrow were selected for maturity, lodging, and plant vigour and were threshed individually. Selected seeds were sent to Puerto Rico for two generations of seed advancement by modified single seed descent in 2013. The F6 plants were grown in a nursery at Harrow in 2014 with single plant selection based on maturity, lodging resistance, plant vigour, disease resistance, and apparent seed size. The selected plants were threshed individually and additional selection was conducted on seed samples in the lab for uniformity of seed size, seed shape, hilum colour, and seed coat colour and integrity. The F7 seeds were also selected for protein content by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy analysis. The F7 plants were grown in a plant row combine harvest (CH15) nursery in 2015 at Harrow with the MAD 2 design (Lin and Voldeng 1989). The line SN12-0037D-2-8E was selected based on yield, maturity, lodging resistance, plant height, seed size, and percentage of protein, oil, and sugars in the seed.
AAC Richard was evaluated for agronomic performance and seed quality in two-row, two-replication preliminary yield trials (PY16) at Harrow and Woodslee in 2016; in five-row, two-replication advanced yield trials (AY17) at three locations (Harrow, Woodslee, and Malden, ON) in 2017; and in five-row, three-replication yield trials at six locations (Harrow, Chatham, Palmyra, Merlin, Woodslee, and Malden, ON) in 2018 (BY18), and again at five locations (Chatham, Harrow, Malden, Palmyra, and Woodslee, ON) in 2019 (BY19). Selection criteria during yield testing were high yield and acceptable maturity and lodging, seed protein concentration, seed size, seed colour and appearance, high water uptake during soaking, and quality and yield of soymilk and tofu. In 2019, seed of 50 individual F7:11 plants were evaluated for uniformity and 26 F7:11 plant rows were sown and purified to establish Breeder Seed. Breeder seed was produced by bulking seed of the 26 uniform F7:12 plots in 2020.
Performance
The agronomic performance of AAC Richard and the check cultivar, AAC Malden, in the AAFC 2018 (BY18) and 2019 (BY19) breeder yield trials are presented in Table 1. AAC Richard yielded the same as the check cultivar AAC Malden. AAC Richard matured about 1 day earlier than AAC Malden. The seed size of AAC Richard was about 0.2 g/100 seed larger than AAC Malden. The protein concentration of AAC Richard was about 1.6% lower than AAC Malden. AAC Richard was about 4 cm taller than the check but had a better lodging score than the check.
Table 1.
Performance of experimental line AAC Richard and the check cultivar AAC Malden in southwestern Ontario, 2018 and 2019 AAFC trials.

Disease Response
AAC Richard had resistance to SCN. In a heavily infested field, AAC Richard was rated 1 to 2 on a 1 = resistant, 5 = susceptible scale (Harovinton = 4.7; RCAT Ruthven = 1.2). In controlled temperature, replicated root inoculations with a mixture SCN HG 1-7 types cysts, AAC Richard showed resistance to SCN, with a Female Index of 1.3, compared with 100 for Lee74 and 16.4 for PI 88788.
Processing Quality
In tests conducted at Harrow, AAC Richard exhibited satisfactory tofu performance and quality, and good soymilk performance and quality (colour and sugars) in comparison with the processing check cultivar Harovinton (Buzzell et al. 1991) (Table 2). AAC Richard is offered as a food grade soybean cultivar with yellow hilum and resistance to SCN for the soymilk and tofu markets.
Table 2.
Soymilk and tofu yield and quality of AAC Richard and Harovinton in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Other Characteristics
AAC Richard has an indeterminate growth habit, white flowers, green hypocotyls, and grey pubescence. The seeds are dull yellow with yellow hila.
Maintenance and Distribution of Pedigreed Seed
Breeder seed of AAC Richard is maintained by the AAFC Harrow-RDC, Harrow, Ontario. SeCan Association, 501–300 March Rd, Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 2E2 has exclusive rights to AAC Richard soybean for contract production of pedigreed seed for use in contract production.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by GFO (Grain Farmers of Ontario), CFCRA (Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance) and AAFC. The technical assistance of Mike Bissonnette, Kathy Beaudoin, and Dale Anderson, is gratefully acknowledged.