Chico Soybean

85-100 days —  'Chico' is an indeterminate variety that grows twenty four to thirty nine inches in height and produces small yellow seeds with a buff hilum (eye), that are said to be more digestible that other varieties. The beans are small, approximately 30% smaller than most common soybeans. The Rps1 gene present for resistance to phytophthora root rot (Phytophthora megasperma). It also resists shattering.

Developed by B. Kennedy, J. Lambert, and J. Orf of the University of Minnesota and donated in April of 1983 to the USDA seed bank as accession PI 542402.  Although 'Chico' has a very complex pedigree, it was stabilized and is an open-pollinated variety. For those that are interested, the pedigree record is: [Evans x (Merit x Lee)] x (M65-69 x M65-227) M65-69 is from M54-12 (Capital x Renville) x Corsoy M65-227 is from O57-2921 (Blackhawk x Capital) x JA42 JA42 is 'Kogane-Jiro' from Japan (probably PI 317335). Before being named, it was referred to as M74-355.

'Chico' is a prime example of what can be accomplished with classical breeding techniques without the use of laboratory-based genetic engineering. Each packet contains 25 to 30 seeds.