Economic Analysis of Alternative Control Methods for Soybean Cyst Nematode in Southern Illinois. R. P. Reis, Assistant Professor, Escola Superior de Agricultura de Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil. G. R. Noel, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA, and Assistant Professor of Nematology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801; and E. R. Swanson, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Illinois. Plant Dis. 67:480-483. Accepted for publication 3 November 1982. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1983. DOI: 10.1094/PD-67-480.

The choice of soybean (Glycine max) cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) (SCN) control methods based on the economic criterion of maximum net returns is illustrated. A linear programming model characterized a typical farm situation in southern Illinois that involved 25 alternative cropping systems and included three soybean varieties, two resistant to SCN and one susceptible to SCN, and the use of nematicide and fertilizer. Continuous corn (Zea mays) was also considered as an alternative. The economically optimal SCN control method was influenced by the corn/soybean price ratio and available funds. The base solution for the optimal cropping system with average 1976–1979 corn and soybean prices and $20,000 available funds required 65 ha of corn rotated with soybeans susceptible to SCN treated with nematicide and fertilizer and 39 ha of continuous soybeans resistant to SCN with no fertility treatment. The economically optimal methods for control of SCN depend, among other things, on crop prices and available funds.

Keyword(s): aldicarb, crop rotation, soil fertility.