Soybean pollinators, pests, and their possible link through plant morphology

Soybean (Glycine max L.) represents one of the fastest-growing crops globally, with expanding cultivation across southern Europe, particularly in Italy. While traditional agricultural consensus historically classified soybean as strictly self-pollinating—a belief still widely held by contemporary farmers—recent empirical evidence from regions like Argentina demonstrates that excluding pollinators significantly reduces crop yield. This exploratory study investigates the pollinator community within soybean production systems in northeastern Italy. Specifically, this research evaluates how variations in plant morphology across different soybean genotypes influence both pollinator visitation rates and the influx of landscape-level pests. Furthermore, it quantifies the scale of pollinator dependence in regional soybean production, providing a critical baseline for assessing insect-mediated yield dynamics across Europe.