Editing Soybean (section)

== History ==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2021}}
Soybeans were a crucial crop in East Asia long before written records began.<ref>Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko. 2013. History of Whole Dry Soybeans, Used as Beans, or Ground, Mashed or Flaked (240 BCE to 2013). Lafayette, California. 950 pp.</ref> The origin of soy bean cultivation remains scientifically debated. The closest living relative of the soybean is ''[[Glycine soja]]'' (previously called ''G. ussuriensis''), a legume native to central China.<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/557184/soybean |title=Soybean |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online |access-date=February 18, 2012}}</ref> There is evidence for soybean domestication between 7000 and 6600 BC in China, between 5000 and 3000 BC in Japan and 1000 BC in Korea.<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Gyoung-Ah |last2=Crawford |first2=Gary W. |last3=Liu |first3=Li |last4=Sasaki |first4=Yuka |last5=Chen |first5=Xuexiang |title=Archaeological Soybean (''Glycine max'') in East Asia: Does Size Matter? |journal=[[PLOS ONE]] |date=November 4, 2011 |volume=6 |issue=11 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0026720 |pages=e26720 |pmid=22073186 |pmc=3208558|bibcode=2011PLoSO...626720L |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The first unambiguously domesticated, [[cultigen]]-sized soybean was discovered in Korea at the [[Mumun pottery period|Mumun]]-period Daundong site.<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011" /><ref name="Stark-2017">{{cite book|last1=Stark|first1=Miriam T.|title=Archaeology of Asia|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-5303-4|page=81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z4_bT2SJ-HUC&pg=PA81|access-date=18 April 2017|language=en|date=15 April 2008}}</ref> Prior to [[Fermentation (food)|fermented]] products such as fermented black soybeans (''[[douchi]]''), ''jiang'' (Chinese miso), [[soy sauce]], [[tempeh]], [[nattō]], and [[miso]], soy was considered sacred for its beneficial effects in [[crop rotation]], and it was eaten by itself, and as [[bean curd]] and [[soy milk]].

Soybeans were introduced to [[Java]] in [[Malay Archipelago]] circa 13th century or probably earlier. By the 17th century through their trade with Far East, soybeans and its products were traded by European traders (Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch) in Asia, and reached Indian Subcontinent by this period.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} By the 18th century, soybeans were introduced to the Americas and Europe from China. Soy was introduced to Africa from China in the late 19th century, and is now widespread across the continent.

===East Asia===
[[File:Leiden University Library - Seikei Zusetsu vol. 18, page 023 - 穭豆 - Glycine max (L.) Merr., 1804.jpg|thumb|''[[Seikei Zusetsu]]'' (1804)|alt=[[Botanical illustration]], ''[[Seikei Zusetsu]]'' (1804)]]

The cultivation of soybeans began in the eastern half of northern China by 2000 BC, but is almost certainly much older.<ref name=Murphy>{{cite book |title=People, Plants and Genes: The Story of Crops and Humanity |url=https://archive.org/details/peopleplantsgene00murp_652 |url-access=limited |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/peopleplantsgene00murp_652/page/n146 122]–123 |year=2007 |last= Murphy |first= Denis J.}}</ref> The earliest documented evidence for the use of ''Glycine'' of any kind comes from charred plant remains of wild soybean recovered from Jiahu in [[Henan province]] China, a [[Neolithic]] site occupied between 9000 and 7800 calendar years ago (cal bp).<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011" /> An abundance of archeological charred soybean specimens have been found centered around this region.<ref>Zhao Z. 2004. "Floatation: a paleobotanic method in field archaeology". [[Archaeology (journal)|Archaeology]] 3: 80–87.</ref>

According to the ancient Chinese myth, in 2853 BC, the legendary [[Shennong|Emperor Shennong]] of China proclaimed that five plants were sacred: soybeans, rice, wheat, barley, and [[millet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soya.be/history-of-soybeans.php|title=History of Soybeans|publisher=Soya – Information about Soy and Soya Products|access-date=February 18, 2012}}</ref> Early Chinese records mention that soybeans were a gift from the region of [[Yangtze River delta]] and Southeast China.<ref name="Britannica Educational Publishing p. 48">The History of Agriculture By Britannica Educational Publishing, p. 48</ref> The ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' claims soybean cultivation originated in China about 5000 years ago.<ref>''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'', ed. A. M. Prokhorov (New York: Macmillan, London: Collier Macmillan, 1974–1983) 31 volumes, three volumes of indexes. Translation of third Russian edition of ''Bol'shaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya''</ref> Some scholars suggest that soybean originated in China and was domesticated about 3500 BC.<ref name=Siddiqi>{{cite book |last=Siddiqi |first=Mohammad Rafiq |year=2001 |title=Tylenchida: Parasites of Plants and Insects |location=New York |publisher=CABI Pub.}}</ref> Recent research, however, indicates that seeding of wild forms started early (before 5000 BC) in multiple locations throughout East Asia.<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011" />

Soybeans became an important crop by the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC) in China. However, the details of where, when, and under what circumstances soybean developed a close relationship with people are poorly understood. Soybean was unknown in South China before the Han period.<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011" /> From about the first century AD to the [[Age of Discovery]] (15–16th centuries), soybeans were introduced into across South and Southeast Asia. This spread was due to the establishment of sea and land trade routes. The earliest Japanese textual reference to the soybean is in the classic ''[[Kojiki]]'' (''Records of Ancient Matters''), which was completed in AD 712.

The oldest preserved soybeans resembling modern varieties in size and shape were found in [[archaeological site]]s in [[Korea]] dated about 1000 BC.<ref name="Britannica Educational Publishing p. 48"/><ref name=stark>{{cite book |last=Stark|first=Miriam T. |title=Archaeology of Asia (Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology) |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Hoboken, NJ |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoDFdOstSNwC&pg=PA81|page=81|isbn=978-1-4051-0213-1|access-date=February 18, 2012}}</ref> [[Radiocarbon dating]] of soybean samples recovered through [[flotation (archaeology)|flotation]] during excavations at the Early [[Mumun]] period Okbang site in Korea indicated soybean was cultivated as a food crop in around 1000–900 BC.<ref name=stark /> Soybeans from the Jōmon period in Japan from 3000 BC<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011" /> are also significantly larger than wild varieties.<ref name="Lee-et-al-2011" /><ref>Shurtleff, William; Aoyagi, Akiko. 2012. ''History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Japan''. Lafayette, California.</ref>

===Southeast Asia===
Soybeans were mentioned as ''kadêlê'' (modern [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] term: {{Lang|id|kedelai}})<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/indonesian-english/kedelai|title=kedelai translate Indonesian to English: Cambridge Dictionary|website=dictionary.cambridge.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-21}}</ref> in an [[old Javanese]] manuscript, Serat [[Sri Tanjung]], which dates to 12th- to 13th-century [[Java]].<ref name="Historia">{{cite web | title=Sejarah Tempe| author=Hendri F. Isnaeni | date=9 July 2014| publisher=Historia |url=http://historia.id/kuliner/sejarah-tempe | language=id | access-date= 21 January 2018}}</ref> By the 13th century, the soybean had arrived and cultivated in Indonesia; it probably arrived much earlier however, carried by traders or merchants from Southern China.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/139|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Southeast Asia (1770–2010)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|isbn=978-1-928914-30-3|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi|year=2010}}</ref>

The earliest known reference to it as "[[tempeh]]" appeared in 1815 in the [[Serat Centhini]] manuscript.<ref>''The Book of Tempeh'', 2nd ed., by W. Shurtleff and A. Aoyagi (2001, Ten Speed Press, p. 145)</ref> The development of tempeh fermented soybean cake probably took place earlier, circa 17th century in Java.

===Indian subcontinent===
By the 1600s, soy sauce spread from southern Japan across the region through the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC).
[[File:Soya Bean.jpg|thumb|From a high-altitude area of [[Nepal]]]]
[[File:Soyabean field.jpg|thumb|[[India]]|alt=Field in India]]

While the origins and history of Soybean cultivation in the [[Eastern Himalayas]] is debated, it was potentially introduced from southern [[China]], more specifically [[Yunnan]] province.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/140 |title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in South Asia / Indian Subcontinent (1656–2010) |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |publisher=Soy Info Center |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-928914-31-0 |access-date=February 18, 2012}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Tamang |first=Jyoti Prakash |date=September 2024 |title=Unveiling kinema: blending tradition and science in the Himalayan fermented soya delicacy |journal=Journal of Ethnic Foods |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=29 |doi=10.1186/s42779-024-00247-1 |doi-access=free |issn=2352-619X}}</ref> Alternatively, it could have reached here through traders from [[Indonesia]] via [[Myanmar]]. [[Northeast India]] is viewed as a passive micro-centre within the soybean secondary gene centre. Central India is considered a tertiary gene centre particularly the area encompassing Madhya Pradesh which is also the country largest soybean producer.<ref name=":4" />

===Iberia===
In 1603, "[[Nippo Jisho|Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam]]", a famous Japanese-Portuguese dictionary, was compiled and published by Jesuit priests in Nagasaki. It contains short but clear definitions for about 20 words related to soyfoods—the first in any European language.

The Luso-Hispanic traders were familiar with soybeans and soybean product through their trade with Far East since at least the 17th century. However, it was not until the late 19th century that the first attempt to cultivate soybeans in the Iberian peninsula was undertaken. In 1880, the soybean was first cultivated in Portugal in the [[Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra|Botanical Gardens at Coimbra]] (Crespi 1935).

In about 1910 in Spain the first attempts at Soybean cultivation were made by the Count of San Bernardo, who cultivated soybeans on his estates at Almillo (in southwest Spain) about 48 miles east-northeast of Seville.<ref>Shurtleff, W.; Aoyagi, A. 2015. "History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Spain and Portugal (1603–2015)." Lafayette, California: Soyinfo Center. (624 references; 23 photos and illustrations. Free online.)</ref>

===North America===
Soybeans were first introduced to North America from China in 1765, by [[Samuel Bowen]], a former [[East India Company]] sailor who had visited China in conjunction with [[James Flint (merchant)|James Flint]], the first Englishman legally permitted by the Chinese authorities to learn Chinese.<ref>{{cite book
| title = An Anxious Pursuit: Agricultural Innovation and Modernity in the Lower South, 1730–1815
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_I0_gkKKMM8C&pg=PA147
| last1 = Chaplin
| first1 = J.E.
| year = 1996
| isbn = 978-0-8078-4613-1
| publisher = University of North Carolina Press
| page = 147}}</ref> The first "New World" soybean crop was grown on [[Skidaway Island, Georgia]], in 1765 by Henry Yonge from seeds given him by Samuel Bowen.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hymowitz|first=T.|date=1970-10-01|title=On the domestication of the soybean|journal=[[Economic Botany]]|language=en|volume=24|issue=4|pages=408–21|doi=10.1007/BF02860745|bibcode=1970EcBot..24..408H |s2cid=26735964|url=http://elartu.tntu.edu.ua/handle/lib/43629 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/irwin/anr/Vol29.1.pdf.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923195804/http://www.caes.uga.edu/extension/irwin/anr/Vol29.1.pdf.pdf |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |publisher=Georgia Soybean News |website=caes.uga.edu |title=Another First for Georgia Agriculture |author=Roger Boerma |page=5 |volume=1 |issue=1  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=360&dat=19940831&id=9eMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=6901,2669493&hl=en|publisher=The Rockmart Journal|title=Soybeans planted first in Georgia|date=21 August 1994|website=Google News Archive}}</ref> Bowen grew soy near [[Savannah, Georgia]], possibly using funds from Flint, and made soy sauce for sale to England.<ref name="Coastalfields Press">{{cite book|title=Eat Your Food! Gastronomical Glory from Garden to Gut: A Coastalfields Cookbook, Nutrition Textbook, Farming Manual and Sports Manual|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtZ2oNGyv6AC&pg=PR2|access-date=4 May 2013|date=April 2007|publisher=Coastalfields Press|isbn=978-0-9785944-8-0}}</ref> Although soybean was introduced into North America in 1765, for the next 155 years, the crop was grown primarily for [[forage]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nsrl.uiuc.edu/aboutsoy/history4.html |title=About Soy - Soybeans: The Success Story - p.4|date=November 22, 2003 |website=National Soybean Research Laboratory - [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031122134643/http://www.nsrl.uiuc.edu/aboutsoy/history4.html |archive-date=November 22, 2003 }}</ref>

In 1831, the first soy product "a few dozen India Soy" [sauce] arrived in Canada. Soybeans were probably first cultivated in Canada by 1855, and definitely in 1895 at [[Ontario Agricultural College]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/137|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Canada (1831–2010)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|isbn=978-1-928914-28-0|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi|year=2010}}</ref>

It was not until [[Lafayette Mendel]] and [[Thomas Burr Osborne (chemist)|Thomas Burr Osborne]] showed that the nutritional value of soybean seeds could be increased by cooking, moisture or heat, that soy went from a farm animal feed to a human food.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/html_pubs/irspsm91/kunitz.html|title=The Kunitz Soybean Variety|work=uiuc.edu|date=2018-02-20|first = Theodore|last =Hymowitz}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cropsci.illinois.edu/news/scientists-create-new-low-allergen-soybean|title= Scientists create new low-allergen soybean|work=illinois.edu|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605195117/http://cropsci.illinois.edu/news/scientists-create-new-low-allergen-soybean|archive-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref>

[[William Joseph Morse]] is considered the "father" of modern soybean agriculture in America. In 1910, he and [[Charles Piper]] began to popularize what was regarded as a relatively unknown Oriental peasant crop in America into a "golden bean", with the soybean becoming one of America's largest and most nutritious farm crops.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/morse_and_piper.php|title=William J. Morse and Charles V. Piper|work=soyinfocenter.com|first1= William |last1=Shurtleff |first2=Akiko|last2= Aoyagi|date =2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/147|title=William J. Morse – History of His Work with Soybeans and Soyfoods (1884–1959) – SoyInfo Center |publisher=soyinfocenter.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Piper |first1=Charles V. |author1-link=Charles Piper |last2=Morse |first2=William J. |year=1923 |title=The Soybean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hRCAAAAYAAJ |series=Agricultural and Biological Publications |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company |oclc=252589754 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[File:Soybeans 2021 US map.pdf|frameless|alt=Planted area 2021 US map by state|left|upright=2.0]]

Prior to the 1920s in the US, the soybean was mainly a [[forage]] crop, a source of oil, meal (for feed) and industrial products, with very little used as food. However, it took on an important role after World War I. During the [[Great Depression]], the drought-stricken ([[Dust Bowl]]) regions of the United States were able to use soy to regenerate their soil because of its nitrogen-fixing properties. Farms were increasing production to meet with government demands, and [[Henry Ford]] became a promoter of soybeans.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-07/history-of-soybeans-in-u-s-could-take-turn-in-trump-s-trade-war?srnd=premium|title=How Soybeans Became Ubiquitous |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |date=December 7, 2019 |publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=2019-12-07}}</ref> In 1931, Ford hired chemists [[Robert Boyer (chemist)|Robert Boyer]] and Frank Calvert to produce [[artificial silk]]. They succeeded in making a textile fiber of spun soy protein fibers, hardened or tanned in a [[formaldehyde]] bath, which was given the name [[Azlon]]. It never reached the commercial market. Soybean oil was used by [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] in [[Soy paint|paint]] for the automobiles,<ref name="Schwarcz">{{cite book |author=Joe Schwarcz|title=The Fly in the Ointment: 63 Fascinating Commentaries on the Science of Everyday Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmIbClRzfeoC&pg=PA193 |access-date=4 May 2013 |year=2004 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-55022-621-8|page=193}}</ref> as well as a fluid for shock absorbers.

During World War II, soybeans became important in both North America and Europe chiefly as substitutes for other protein foods and as a source of edible oil. During the war, the soybean was discovered as [[fertilizer]] due to [[nitrogen fixation]] by the [[United States Department of Agriculture]].

Prior to the 1970s, Asian-Americans and Seventh-Day Adventists were essentially the only users of soy foods in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Matthew |year=2018 |title=Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas|page=109 |isbn=978-0-7006-2633-5 |oclc=1012618664 }}</ref> "The soy foods movement began in small pockets of the counterculture, notably the Tennessee commune named simply [[The Farm (Tennessee)|The Farm]], but by the mid-1970s a vegetarian revival helped it gain momentum and even popular awareness through books such as [[William Shurtleff|''The Book of Tofu'']]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Matthew |year=2018 |title=Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas|page=201 |isbn=978-0-7006-2633-5 |oclc=1012618664 }}</ref>

Although practically unseen in 1900, by 2000 soybean plantings covered more than 70 million acres,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roth |first=Matthew |year=2018 |title=Magic Bean: The Rise of Soy in America |location=Lawrence, KS |publisher=University Press of Kansas|page=8 |isbn=978-0-7006-2633-5 |oclc=1012618664 }}</ref> second only to corn, and it became America's largest cash crop.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In 2021, 87,195,000 acres were planted, with the largest acreage in the states of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota.<ref>{{cite web |title=2021 Soybean Planted Area (000) Acres and Percent Change from Previous Year |url=https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/graphics/soyacm.pdf |website=USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service |publisher=USDA |access-date=4 February 2022 |date=12 January 2022}}</ref>

===Caribbean and West Indies===
The soybean arrived in the Caribbean in the form of soy sauce made by Samuel Bowen in Savannah, Georgia, in 1767. It remains only a minor crop there, but its uses for human food are growing steadily.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/126|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in the Caribbean / West Indies (1767–2008)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi}}</ref>

===Mediterranean area===
The soybean was first cultivated in Italy by 1760 in the Botanical Garden of Turin. During the 1780s, it was grown in at least three other botanical gardens in Italy.<ref>Shurtleff, W.; Aoyagi, A. (2015). ''History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Italy (1597–2015)''. Lafayette, California: Soyinfo Center. 618 pp. (1,381 references; 93 photos and illustrations. Free online.)</ref> The first soybean product, soy oil, arrived in [[Anatolia]] during 1909 under [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urb6IPmxwU8C&q=soybean+turkey&pg=PA7|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in the Middle East: Extensively Annotated Bibliography and Sourcebook|last1=Shurtleff|first1=William|last2=Aoyagi|first2=Akiko|date=2008|publisher=Soyinfo Center|isbn=978-1-928914-15-0|language=en}}</ref> The first clear cultivation occurred in 1931.<ref name=":2" /> This was also the first time that soybeans were cultivated in Middle East.<ref name=":2" /> By 1939, soybeans were cultivated in Greece.<ref>Matagrin. 1939. "Le Soja et les Industries du Soja," p.&nbsp;47–48</ref><ref>Shurtleff, W.; Aoyagi, A. 2015. "History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Greece, the European Union and Small Western European Countries (1939–2015)." Lafayette, California: Soyinfo Center. 243 pp. (462 references; 20 photos and illustrations. Free online. {{ISBN|978-1-928914-81-5}}).</ref>

===Australia===
Wild soybeans were discovered in northeastern Australia in 1770 by explorers Banks and Solander. In 1804, the first soyfood product ("Fine India Soy" [sauce]) was sold in Sydney. In 1879, the first domesticated soybeans arrived in Australia, a gift of the Minister of the Interior Department, Japan.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/138|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania (1770–2010)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|isbn=978-1-928914-29-7|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi|year=2010}}</ref>

===France===
The soybean was first cultivated in France by 1779 (and perhaps as early as 1740). The two key early people and organizations introducing the soybean to France were the Society of Acclimatization (starting in 1855) and [[Li Shizeng|Li Yu-ying]] (from 1910). Li started a large tofu factory, where the first commercial soyfoods in France were made.<ref>Shurtleff, W.; Aoyagi, A.; 2015. "History of Soybeans and Soyfood in France (1665–2015)". Lafayette, California; Soyinfo Center. 1,202 pp. (3,405 references; 145 photos and illustrations. Free online).</ref>

===Africa===
The soybean first arrived in Africa via Egypt in 1857.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/134|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Africa (1857–2009)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|isbn=978-1-928914-25-9|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi|date=2009}}</ref> Soya Meme (Baked Soya) is produced in the village called Bame Awudome near [[Ho, Ghana|Ho]], the capital of the [[Volta Region]] of [[Ghana]], by the [[Ewe people]] of Southeastern Ghana and southern Togo.

===Central Europe===
In 1873, Professor [[Friedrich J. Haberlandt]] first became interested in soybeans when he obtained the seeds of 19 soybean varieties at the [[Vienna World Exposition]] (Wiener Weltausstellung). He cultivated these seeds in Vienna, and soon began to distribute them throughout Central and Western Europe. In 1875, he first grew the soybeans in Vienna, then in early 1876 he sent samples of seeds to seven cooperators in central Europe, who planted and tested the seeds in the spring of 1876, with good or fairly good results in each case.<ref name="shurtleff">Shurtleff, W.; Aoyagi, A. 2015. "History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Austria and Switzerland (1781–2015)." Lafayette, California: Soyinfo Center. 705 pp. (1444 references; 128 photos and illustrations). Free online. {{ISBN|978-1-928914-77-8}}.</ref> Most of the farmers who received seeds from him cultivated them, then reported their results. Starting in February 1876, he published these results first in various journal articles, and finally in his ''magnum opus'', Die Sojabohne (The Soybean) in 1878.<ref name=shurtleff/> In northern Europe, [[lupin]] (lupine) is known as the "soybean of the north".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/business/energy-environment/soy-substitute-edges-its-way-into-european-meals.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|title=Soy Substitute Edges Its Way Into European Meals|last=Ross|first=Kate|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 16, 2011|access-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref>

===Central Asia===
The soybean is first in cultivated Transcaucasia in Central Asia in 1876, by the Dungans. This region has never been important for soybean production.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/123|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Central Asia (1876–2008)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi}}</ref>

===Central America===
The first reliable reference to the soybean in this region dates from Mexico in 1877.<ref name=book-128>{{cite web|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/128|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in Mexico and Central America (1877–2009)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi}}</ref>

===South America===
The soybean first arrived in South America in Argentina in 1882.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/132|title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods in South America (1882–2009)|publisher=Soy Info Center|access-date=February 18, 2012|isbn=978-1-928914-23-5|first1=William|last1=Shurtleff|first2=Akiko|last2=Aoyagi|year=2009}}</ref>

Andrew McClung showed in the early 1950s that with soil amendments the [[Cerrado]] region of Brazil would grow soybeans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2006/06/cornellian-reaps-2006-world-food-prize|title=Cornell alumnus Andrew Colin McClung reaps 2006 World Food Prize|publisher=news.cornell.edu – Cornell Chronicle}}</ref> In June 1973, when soybean futures markets mistakenly portended a major shortage, the [[Presidency of Richard Nixon|Nixon administration]] imposed an embargo on soybean exports. It lasted only a week, but Japanese buyers felt that they could not rely on U.S. supplies, and the rival Brazilian soybean industry came into existence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.agpolicy.org/weekcol/217.html|title=Policy Pennings, by Daryll E. Ray, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center|website=www.agpolicy.org|access-date=2019-12-07}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> This led Brazil to become the world's largest producer of soybeans in 2020, with 131 million tons.<ref>[https://revistagloborural.globo.com/Noticias/Agricultura/noticia/2020/06/brasil-deve-colher-131-milhoes-de-toneladas-de-soja-na-safra-202021-aponta-usda.html Brasil deve colher 131 milhões de toneladas de soja na safra 2020/21, aponta USDA]</ref>

Industrial soy production in South America is characterized by wealthy management who live far away from the production site which they manage remotely. In Brazil, these managers depend heavily on advanced technology and machinery, and agronomic practices such as zero tillage, high pesticide use, and intense fertilization. One contributing factor is the increased attention on the Brazilian [[Cerrado]] in [[Bahia]], Brazil by US farmers in the early 2000s. This was due to rising values of scarce farmland and high production costs in the US Midwest. There were many promotions of the Brazilian Cerrado by US farm producer magazines and market consultants who portrayed it as having cheap land with ideal production conditions, with infrastructure being the only thing it was lacking. These same magazines also presented Brazilian soy as inevitably out-competing American soy. Another draw to investing was the insider information about the climate and market in Brazil. A few dozen American farmers purchased varying amounts of land by a variety of means including finding investors and selling off land holdings. Many followed the [[Ethanol fuel|ethanol]] company model and formed an [[Limited liability company|LLC]] with investments from neighboring farmers, friends, and family while some turned to investment companies. Some soy farmers either [[Liquidation|liquidated]] their Brazilian assets or switched to remote management from the US to return to farming there and implement new farming and business practices to make their US farms more productive. Others planned to sell their now expensive Bahia land to buy land cheaper land in the frontier regions of [[Piauí]] or [[Tocantins]] to create more soybean farms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ofstehage |first=Andrew L. |date=2018-05-10 |title=Financialization of work, value, and social organization among transnational soy farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12123 |journal=Economic Anthropology |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=274–285 |doi=10.1002/sea2.12123 |issn=2330-4847}}</ref>