Database Research Summaries2018 Control of Soybean Diseases
Research Focus
The focus of this project is to provide soybean farmers with information on how to manage important diseases and how they affect the crop.
Objectives
- Screen NDSU breeding lines and cultivars for resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Phytophthora sojae and other pathogens that threaten the soybean crop.
- Monitor soybean for new pathogens and new virulent strains of established pathogens. The current emphasis is on Phytophthora sojae the cause of root rot.
- Continue research on pathogens involved in the late season death of soybean, which appears to be due to root infecting fungi.
Results
- Most round-up ready soybean cultivars reported SCN resistance and was confirmed in the greenhouse test. The conventional soybeans also contained some breeding lines being retested. Seven of the conventional commercial soybean cultivars were susceptible to SCN while three had a moderate level of resistance. Two of the breeding lines were confirmed with resistance.
- The collection of races of P. sojae were grown and tested for pathogenicity on a set of cultivars. Pathogenicity was confirmed for the races 3 and 4 we normally use in the screening process.
- The two Fusarium species field experiments were on partially analyzed. The preliminary data showed substantial reductions in the mean whole plant weight, pod weight and seed weight at harvest when roots were infected by the two Fusarium species.
- There were plants that died from Fusarium but most died within 4 to 6 weeks after planting. The stunting of plant growth when infected with these Fusarium species was obvious especially when inoculum levels were high. The drier conditions early in the growth of the plants were favorable to disease development.
Importance
The data and information gained in this research proposal will help growers manage important diseases and understand how they affect the crop.
For more information about this research project, please visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database.
Funded in part by the soybean checkoff.
