Strategies for Management of Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome and White Mold

The SDS has been recognized as a major disease of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) in the southern United States for nearly three decades. In 1995 Scherm and Yang using computer model predicted that the disease would become an important disease in North Central region. In the past 10 years SDS has becom prevalent and severe in northern soybean production areas and reduces soybean yield significantly. SDS is an early to late season disease of soybean. This year SDS has been observed in most parts of Iowa towards mid September. There is concern among producers in the north central region, due to noticeable expansion in geographical array of SDS, wide spread damage in the field and the associated potential yield losses. Yield loss due to SDS in the top 10 soybean producing countries varies from 2 ×10 in Canada to 9 ×10 metric tons in the United States (Wrather, et al., 2001).