Nematode resistant soybean cultivars

Summary

Plant parasitic nematodes are a major constraint to soybean production in the southeastern US. Use of nematode-resistant cultivars is the only economically feasible method to control nematodes on soybean. This project provides support to the soybean breeding program for development of nematode-resistant cultivars.

Situation

The US produced approximately 3 billion bushels of soybean on plantings of 77 million acres in 2012. In 2011, losses from diseases and nematodes were estimated to be 368 million bushels, or about 11% of production. Twenty-eight percent of this loss was due to plant-parasitic nematodes, and in Georgia, 62% of the estimated disease losses in soybean were from nematodes. Most of the nematode losses in the US were caused by soybean cyst nematode, root-knot nematode, and reniform nematodes. These nematode genera are common throughout the soybean producing regions. Nematode resistance is widely deployed to control plant-parasitic nematodes in soybean, and if elite cultivars were not available with nematode resistance, crop losses would typically be more than 50% where these nematodes occur.

Response

The overall goal of this component of the soybean breeding project is to support the development and release of high-yielding soybean cultivars with resistance to multiple nematode species. The specific objective is to provide the expertise and phenotype screening support as needed for identification and evaluation of multiple-nematode-species resistance in soybean breeding lines at all phases of the development cycle.

Impact

The University of Georgia soybean cultivar development team of Roger Boerma, James Buck, Jim Noe, John All and Zenglu Li released a new high-yielding nematode-resistant Roundup-Ready soybean cultivar in 2013, identified as G06-3182RR. G06-3182RR is an early maturity-group VII cultivar that possesses résistance to Southern and Javanese root-knot nematodes, race 3 of the soybean cyst nematode, and stem canker, a fungal plant disease. In statewide performance trials, G06-3182RR had yields that were 7-12% higher than commonly-grown MG VII soybean cultivars.

State Issue

Agricultural Profitability and Sustainability

Details

• Year: 2013
• Geographic Scope: Multi-State/Regional
• County: Clarke
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources