02/06/1994

New Soybean Variety Combines High Yields and Pest Resistance

AUBURN, Ala. - A new soybean variety recently released by Auburn University's Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) will give southeastern farmers a new option for growing high-yielding soybeans in disease- and nematode-ridden areas.

Carver, the new variety released last fall, was developed by David Weaver, professor of agronomy and soils at Auburn. According to Weaver, who conducts research through the AAES, Carver offers a combination of qualities that can be useful to farmers.

"We started working on Carver in 1984 when we first crossed a nematode-resistant line with a high-yielding experimental line from North Carolina State University," said Weaver. "We made the cross to try and develop a high-yielding, nematode-resistant type that also had frogeye leafspot resistance."

Weaver explained that few of the currently-available varieties have both broad-spectrum nematode resistance and resistance to foliar diseases, such as frogeye leafspot. Frogeye leafspot is a sporadic problem that can be one of the most destructive foliar diseases of soybeans.

"We took the progeny from these crosses and screened them in a field in Baldwin County that is one of the worst nematode infested fields we have. We didn't try to screen these plants for a specific nematode, but just put the plants out there and found out which one yielded the best under these conditions," he said. The progeny also went through usual regional variety test trials.

Results of the studies show that Carver is very competitive in yield, though it may be better suited for specific sites and conditions. "It's performance depends on where you grow it," said Weaver. "It is most suitable for nematode-infested fields, but also has performed extremely well in other settings."

"We didn't initially screen Carver against different nematode species, but we have since found that it has resistance to all prevalent southeastern nematode pests, including southern root-knot, peanut root-knot and races 3 and 14 of soybean-cyst nematode," continued Weaver. That work was done in conjunction with nematode expert Rodrigo Rodriguez-Kabana, professor of plant pathology at Auburn.

Tests comparing Carver to other traditional varieties and in various rotational schemes in the Gulf Coast region show that Carver consistently out-yields publicly-developed varieties. The tests compared Carver's performance to that of Bryan, Leflore and Brim in fields that had been continuously planted in soybeans, rotated with cotton or sorghum or left fallow the year before. In all tests, Carver yielded significantly more than Bryan, which is considered one of the best varieties used to date in the Gulf Coast region.

Yields of Carver were as high as 56 bushels per acre following grain sorghum, compared to 52 bushels per acre for Bryan and 37 bushels per acre for Brim, both following grain sorghum.

Carver also performed well at other locations in Alabama, including the Tennessee Valley area where it yielded an average of 60 bushels per acre last year.

Carver, which matures about two days earlier than Stonewall, is about two inches shorter than Stonewall, which gives Carver exceptional lodging resistance. Protein and oil levels for Carver are well within the market parameters. Weaver noted that Carver is somewhat susceptible to stem canker, and so farmers who have a history of stem canker problems or are using management procedures that might aggravate stem canker might not want to choose this variety.

About 100 bushels of breeder seed will be planted this year through the Alabama Crop Improvement Association (ACIA) to produce foundation seed. The ACIA expects this year's breeder seed will provide a forty-fold increase in seed amounts, resulting in about 4,000 bushels of seed available next year for farmers to plant.

According to Weaver, Carver's name was chosen in honor of George Washington Carver. "Many people are not aware that Carver did a lot of work with soybeans as well as peanuts," said Weaver. "His soybean work helped to pave the way for our modern soybean production." Weaver noted that other new soybean lines should be available from his research program in the next two years. "I have a couple of lines that look great. They are good yielding and they are beating everything at every location, which is what Stonewall did. I anticipate release within a couple of years with those," he said.

Anyone interested in learning more about availability of breeder seed should contact the Alabama Crop Improvement Association at (334) 821-7400.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Katie Jackson, 334-844-5886 or smithcl@auburn.edu

February 6, 1994