Quality work within the soybean breeding program at the Agricultural Institute Osijek, is perhaps best manifested through numerous awards, deserved primarily by good acceptance and recognition in the market.

Modern breeding work with the aim of creating and maintaining varieties of high agronomic values ​​that are not genetically modified is based on a combination of classical methods for self-pollinated crops such as soybeans, and are applied in the field and laboratory.

Osijek varieties occupy about two thirds of the area under soybeans in our country, and this data shows better than anything else their quality and commercial values. Among a dozen cultivars of different maturity groups, adapted to all agroecological growing conditions and sowing dates, Ika is the leader of this palette. For the last few years, Ika has been the soybean cultivar with the largest share of production areas under mercantile and seed soybeans in the Republic of Croatia.

Ika is a medium-early variety (0-I maturity group), indeterminate type of growth, medium height (90-110 cm), compact habitus, solid stems resistant to lodging with the possibility of branching. With good tolerance to diseases that occur in our growing conditions, it combines high yields (> 5 t/ha) and grain quality (39-42% protein and 20-22% oil).

Recognized by numerous manufacturers, Ika has been recognized by the profession for many years. Thus, the Croatian Agronomic Society decided for the past season to once again award the “Golden Seed” award to the Agricultural Institute Osijek in the category of the most widespread soybean variety in the Republic of Croatia.

This is a continuation of the series that this variety started in the season in 2010, which continued in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020 and was crowned with the sixth recognition in 2021.

This, the last in a series, as well as all previous recognitions, are of great importance for the Agricultural Institute. They are a confirmation of quality work in breeding and seed production, but also a motivation for further work and development in accordance with market requirements.