By Adriana Murillo-Williams, Alyssa Collins.et.al.
Soybean cyst nematode was found in Lancaster County in 2002 and it has been reported in 8 counties along the Pennsylvania border. Once the nematode is established in a field, it becomes difficult to manage because it survives in the soil for many years in the absence of a host, has high reproduction rates, and spreads through anything that moves soil and infected plant parts (flood water, tractor wheels, wind, humans, and animals). In addition, the nematode has overcome the most common resistance traits available in soybean varieties.
Figure 1. Lemon-shaped SCN females on soybean roots.
Free testing for SCN and plant parasitic nematodes across PA will continue to be offered through the fall of 2019 thanks to the collective effort of Penn State Extension, the
SCN Coalition, and the PA Soybean Board. You can request a nematode soil sample bag from your local Penn State Extension Agronomy Educator. The soil bags contain sampling instructions, a bag label that needs to be filled out, and a field history form that must be returned along with the soil sample for processing.
What do you do once you have collected the samples?
Option 1: Mail the sample to Dr. Dilooshi Weerasooriya, Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, 211 Buckhout Lab. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Phone: 814-863-4798.
Option 2: Soil samples can be dropped off at the
Agricultural Analytical Services Lab (111 Ag Analytical Services Lab, University Park, PA 16802) from Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 4:30 pm. Phone: 814-863-0841.
In the case that SCN is found, we will be working with farmers to select the most appropriate management practices that best fit their operations.
Source : psu.edu