Abstract
The area planted to soybean in South Africa has increased by 54% since the 2009 growing season, mainly as a result of the increasing demand for protein-rich food and fodder sources. Moreover, the introduction of advanced technology, namely the availability of genetically modified herbicide tolerant soybean cultivars also contributed towards increased soybean production. The omnipresence of plant-parasitic nematodes in local agricultural soils, however, poses a threat to the sustainable expansion and production of soybean and other rotation crops. Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica are the predominant nematode pests in local soybean production areas and those where other grain-, legume- and/or vegetable crops are grown. The lack of registered nematicides for soybean locally, crop production systems that are conducive to nematode pest build-ups as well as the limited availability of genetic host plant resistance to root-knot nematode pests, complicate their management. Research aimed at various aspects related to soybean-nematode research, namely, audits of nematode assemblages associated with the crop, identification of genetic host plant resistance in soybean germplasm to M. incognita and M. javanica, the use of molecular markers that are linked to such genetic resistance traits as well as agronomic performance of pre-released cultivars that can be valuable to producers and the industry are accentuated in this review. Evaluation of synthetically-derived as well as biological-control agents are also discussed as complementary management tactics. It is important that lessons learned through extensive research on soybean-nematode interactions in South Africa be shared with researchers and industries in other countries as they might experience or expect similar problems and/or challenges.
Highlights
Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is a major source of protein and oil, both for local human and animal consumption.[1,2] During the 2012/2013 growing season, sunflower ranked first in terms of its production (860 000 t)[1], followed by soybean (710 000 t) and dry bean (60 200 t)[3]
The magnitude of plant-parasitic nematode problems, focussing on root-knot nematodes, in soybean has been illustrated in this article
Sustainable production of soybean is likely to be jeopardised as a result of the build-up of various root-knot nematode species, in particular, in soybean-based cropping systems
Summary
AUTHORS: Hendrika Fourie[1] Dirk de Waele1,2 †Alexander H. HOW TO CITE: Fourie H, De Waele D, Mc Donald AH, Mienie C, Marais M, De Beer A. Nematode pests threatening soybean production in South Africa, with reference to Meloidogyne. The omnipresence of plant-parasitic nematodes in local agricultural soils, poses a threat to the sustainable expansion and production of soybean and other rotation crops. Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica are the predominant nematode pests in local soybean production areas and those where other grain-, legume- and/or vegetable crops are grown. The lack of registered nematicides for soybean locally, crop production systems that are conducive to nematode pest build-ups as well as the limited availability of genetic host plant resistance to root-knot nematode pests, complicate their management. It is important that lessons learned through extensive research on soybean-nematode interactions in South Africa be shared with researchers and industries in other countries as they might experience or expect similar problems and/or challenges
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