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Soybean (Glycine max) is an economically important crop, ranking first among the edible oilseed crops in the world due to its oil content and nutritional value. Besides, it is used as a dietary supplement and a source of pharmaceuticals. The recent rapid climate changes and increasing global population have led to increasing demand for vegetable oil. In the recent past, advances in the field of plant biotechnology have revolutionized agricultural practices at a global level to enhance the yield of crops. This technology not only makes an impact on the agricultural market but also opens up new corridors for agriculture-related industrial applications of this important crop. Therefore, in the last two decades, soybean has gained attention for genetic improvement with remarkable developments in the manipulations of genes for the induction of desired characteristics. In this review, we introduced the transgenic approach as a promising tool for the improvement of soybean oilseed quality and productivity. Then, the enhancement of nutritional and pharmaceutical value together with biotic and abiotic stress-resistant ability was summarized and compared. The methods and strategies for achieving soybean crops with improved abiotic stress tolerance, productivity, and pharmaceutics are categorized to help with future research.

Halophytes are the flowering plants native to saline habitats. These habitats contain high salt, heavy metals and other toxic anthropogenic agents. To complete their life cycle in such harsh conditions, halophytes have developed different strategies like development of succulence, compartmentalization of toxic ions, synthesis of osmolytes, increase in activity of antioxidants and synthesis of compatible solutes. Halophytes have significant applied interests towards various agricultural and non-agricultural purposes besides for maintenance of ecological balance. Important bioactive metabolites can be derived from halophytic plant species for commercial value. In addition, halophytes can be utilized as alternative plants as they could be cultivated for food, fodder/forage, fuel and medicinal crops on saline lands with the help of salty water irrigation. Apart from tolerance, halophytes can be utilized for environmental cleanup. Many halophytes are hyper accumulators of different heavy metals and salt. In this chapter, we discussed prospective use of halophytes for their economic importance as well their potential implications for environmental cleanup.