Plant Health Initiative

Research Initiatives 2008-2009

Jerry Wyse, President, NCSRP

Read the Research Initiatives for 2008 (printer-friendly pdf format)

NCSRP has invested over $21 million since it's inception. View the NCSRP Investment Breakout

A Message from the NCSRP Board

Our goal is to help soybean producers be more profitable by investing in research programs that improve soybean health. One of the most important NCSRP activities is the ability to bring researchers together with the expertise needed to develop research approaches to regional soybean production problems.

Delivering Results. When we say it, we mean it

Here are just a few of our successes that benefit you:

• Enabled scientists to build a “genetic library” of more than 300,000 pieces of genetic information used by public and private labs to decode the mysteries of the soybean defense mechanisms. Checkoff funding by NCSRP and the United Soybean Board leveraged more than $5 million in federal funding for this novel research program. As a result, plant breeders can further identify genes and plant material to breed soybeans with better disease and insect resistance.
• Coordinated an effective checkoff/university response to the arrival of Asian soybean rust in the United States. Helped develop and distribute a unified set of management/response recommendations to U.S. soybean producers.
• Provided resources, through the Plant Health Initiative, to train thousands of “first detectors” to accurately identify Asian soybean rust.
• Funded the development of educational materials for soybean producers to manage Asian soybean rust.
• Created awareness of the need for more SCN-resistant soybean varieties and founded the SCN Coalition, a visionary effort to deliver those varieties, involving seed companies, universities and checkoff partners.
• Developed greenhouse and field techniques to screen soybean varieties for resistance against sudden death syndrome, white mold, and soybean aphids.
• Developed an economic threshold for the soybean aphid of 250 aphids/plant that economists estimate will save soybean producers more than $1.2 billion over the next five years.

Your soybean checkoff. Delivering results.