Evaluation of management practices for SCN in Ontario to support the SCN Coalition

Lead Applicant: Mehrzad (Milad) Eskandari

Research Priority: Plant Health & Protection

Program Type: Tier 1

Funding Cycle: 2023/2024

Research Centre: Ontario Crops Research Centre - Cedar Springs & Ridgetown

Research Summary: Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most yield limiting disease and plant health issue of soybeans in Ontario and the US at over $1 billion lost per year. Ontario losses are poised to increase dramatically as the erosion of SCN resistance conferred by PI88788 genetics, present in 95% of Ontario commercial soybean varieties, becomes more common across Ontario. Reliance on this one commercial source of resistance to SCN (PI88788) will expose growers to levels of yield loss from SCN. To date, Ontario's SCN population and distribution are where many of the US states were 20 years ago and we must avoid their mistakes. This Ontario applied research is part of a larger initiative through the SCN Coalition with 28 partners at US state universities with various goals including 1) evaluating new crop protection nematicide products; 2) alternative resistance sources to PI88788; and 3) new integrated SCN best management practices through large regional validation trials.