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IPM Reduces Losses from Soybean Cyst Nematode |
Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has infested at least 60 percent of Missouri soybean acres, with annual losses reaching $38 million. Unfortunately, pesticides for SCN are uneconomical or unreliable.
Photo: adult soybean cyst nematode females on an infected soybean root segment.
However, IPM developed an effective management strategy combining crop rotation and SCN-resistant soybean varieties. A University of Missouri research and extension effort is funded by the Integrated Pest Management Unit, the USDA special grants program, and the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. The Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council helped fund Extension developmental research of SCN-resistant soybeans, and the United Soybean Board funded the printing of educational publications. Extension mailed newsletters and held field days to teach soybean producers how to manage SCN and provided computer software (MOBEAN) to help producers select resistant soybean varieties.
The percent of Missouri soybean acres with SCN-resistant varieties increased from 5 percent in 1988 to 35 percent in 1994. Soybean yields on SCN-infested land increased from 15 percent to 90 percent by using resistant varieties, and profits from Missouri soybean yields increased $7.5 million per year.
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[Integrated Pest Management in the North Central States] |
[National Integrated Pest Management Network] |