Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Soybean cyst nematodes are the most significant plant pathogen to soybeans in all soybean producing areas in the United States. Rotating to non-host crops, and using resistant varieties have been the main ways of managing this plant pathogen throughout the history of soybeans in this country. Fluopyram is a seed treatment that is labelled for the control of early season plant parasitic nematodes in soybean. Up until this point, there has been little to no published research conducted on the effectiveness of fluopyram against soybean cyst nematode. For this study, the objective was to conduct research to determine whether fluopyram would be a suitable management strategy for soybean cyst nematode. The questions that guided the study were: (1) Will fluopyram significantly reduce soybean cyst nematode populations and increase yields when compared to untreated soybeans? (2) Will treated seed yield more than untreated seed? and (3) Will fluopyram show population decreases comparable to a non-host cropping treatment? The three treatments used to address these questions were: (1) Soybean seed treated with fluopyram, (2) untreated soybeans, and (3) a non-host crop, in this case white corn. This was the first year this study was conducted. The plots were planted on May 31, 2016 on the Murray State University Hutson Farm. There were eight replications of the three treatments, resulting in 24 total plots. The soybean cyst nematode populations were monitored through egg count samples. These samples were taken once before the plot location was decided, in order to provide population levels to determine which location should be used, then once early in season (initial sample), and once after harvest (final sample). The egg counts revealed that all populations for all treatments were extremely variable for both sampling periods. The yield data between soybean treatments, and the percent reduction for all treatments was collected and analyzed through SAS. The average yield for soybeans treated with fluopyram was 64.99 bu/ac, while the average yield for untreated soybeans was 63.42. Therefore, there was no significant difference found between the two soybean treatments for yield. The average percent soybean cyst nematode population reduction for all treatments is as follows: soybeans treated with fluopyram (treatment 1) was 64.26%, non-treated soybeans (treatment 2) was 61.89%, and a non-host white corn crop (treatment 3) was 67.78%. There was no significant difference found between soybeans treated with fluopyram and untreated soybeans. There was also no significant difference between soybeans treated with fluopyram and the non-host crop treatment. Due to this being the first year of the study, care should be taken when generalizing the results of this work.

Year manuscript completed

2017

Year degree awarded

2017

Thesis Advisor

David Ferguson

Committee Member

Alyx Shultz

Committee Member

Brian Parr

Document Type

Thesis

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