Biology and Management of Soybean Stem Diseases

Soybean stem diseases, such as sudden death syndrome, white mold, and stem canker can severely limit yield in the U.S. Over the past five years, they have caused an estimated average loss of 2.87%, which calculates 130+ million bushels/year or $14.42/acre. The proposed research aims to advance knowledge of the biology of pathogens that cause stem diseases, improve prediction of these diseases, and develop industry-usable germplasm that will deliver soybean varieties with improved resistance. Pathologists and breeders will work together to mitigate yield and quality losses from these diseases by improving disease management. A combination of laboratory and field research and established extension groups will address proposed tasks. 1) Assess how cultural practices affect disease development under field conditions. 2) Increase understanding of pathogen diversity and sensitivity to fungicides, as well as assess how pathogen diversity affects response to fungicides in the field. 3) Identify germplasm with improved resistance to stem disease through a coordinated screening effort and contribute in the utilization of useful genetic material to triage with the pathogen and environment components. 4) Use a variety of extension tools to disseminate new information to farmers and the soybean industry. This holistic approach will result in improved management options and recommendations for soybean farmers. The improved disease management will increase soybean yield, which will result in increased income for U.S. soybean farmers, which will keep U.S. farmers and soybean production competitive internationally. We will accomplish this by releasing breeding materials and recommending optimized field management. We will provide information on our progress through multiple methods. We will develop stakeholder targeted outputs (webinars, publications) and release them through CPN, SRIN, and work with USB communications to make sure they have the broadest exposure possible. Research results will be provided to USB through quarterly reports and will be distributed to the research and agricultural communities through Extension venues, scientific papers, and presentations at scientific and farmer meetings.