Symptoms of Charcoal Rot
Early Symptoms of Charcoal Rot
Outer and Inner Stem Symptoms of Charcoal Rot
— A hand lens is useful in detecting microsclerotia
Impact on Crop
May cause moderate to significant yield loss, depending on disease severity and environmental conditions.
Disease Facts
Disease Development
Management of Charcoal Rot
An integrated management approach is required to reduce microslerotia levels in the soil and stresses to the crop.
Rotation can help ease but not eliminate the problem.
Variety Selection - No highly effective sources of resistance are currently available in commercial soybean varieties. However, Pioneer® brand soybean varieties differ in tolerance to charcoal rot drought complex.
Irrigation, where available, helps reduce drought stress, (especially important during reproductive stages R1 to R7).
Scouting – Scout to determine tolerance of varieties to charcoal rot and note for next year’s variety decisions.
Seeding and Fertility – Avoid excessive seeding rates and maintain adequate soil fertility levels (especially potassium) to reduce disease incidence and severity.
Chemical / Biological control measures are currently not available to help manage charcoal rot.
Reduced Tillage systems may help conserve moisture but also increase disease inoculum in crop residue.
Weed Management – Controlling weeds reduces alternate hosts and competition for available soil moisture.
Credits: Images and review by Larry Osborne and Jim Boersma, Pioneer Field Agronomist and Pioneer Product Agronomist, respectively. Review by Les Kuhlman, Pioneer Research Scientist.