Checkoff funding increased for charcoal rot The United Soybean Board is increasing funding to help speed up discovery of possible solutions to charcoal rot. The NCSRP has been a long-time investor in charcoal rot research, but with budget limitations it has not been able to fund a full-scale research effort.
“We have made a lot of progress with support of the NCSRP. We need field environments that are conducive for charcoal rot. While we cannot control the weather, having additional field locations will increase our chances for the right environment. Additional locations are a major benefit of the USB project,” says Bond.
He also identified the need to continue refining current protocols or develop new, more efficient protocols as another area where the USB and NCSRP project will complement one another. Researchers have not fully investigated the effects of the pathogen toxin(s) on the soybean plant and how this is influenced by drought conditions. This will be very beneficial in learning more about the pathogen, the disease, and most importantly, the potential to use the information to control the disease.
Bond says that for a disease like charcoal rot, the research must be approached “one step at a time.” These steps are influenced by weather, limited knowledge about the pathogen – probably more than any other soybean pathogen -- and other factors.
In addition to USB and NCSRP, several state soybean boards also have projects for charcoal rot in their states. Bond says the USB and NCSRP efforts help to coordinate these activities and speed the release of information to other scientists who are not directly involved in these projects.
