08-Lancaster Farming Saturday December 15,1984
DE KALB, 11. - Developing corn
hybrids that will perform well for
farmers is not an easy task.
Besides surviving weather con
ditions, corn hybrids also must
resist diseases and insects.
Producing hybrids that meet these
challenges, according to Dr. David
Smith, Dekalb-Pfizer Genetics
Plant Pathologist, is a year-round,
never-ending job.
Plant pathology is the study of
diseases. Smith and the other
company pathologists must study
the nature and causes of diseases,
as well as the structural and
functional changes those diseases
produce in plants. The
pathologist’s job is to gain fir
sthand knowledge about diseases
and how plants react to them.
But the job also involves sup
porting various divisions within
Dekalb-Pfizer. Pathologists
provide consultation to the sales
staff on samples they receive from
dealers and agronomists, and they
assist the company’s corn
research division through their
efforts in breeding plants for
disease resistance. John Kinsey,
Associate Pathologist, supplies
pathogens (those organisms which
cause disease) to all Dekalb-Pfizer
corn research locations, so that
breeders can evaluate for
resistance at their own testing
locations.
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Plant pathologists are ‘disease fighters 9
Although breeding plants which
have complete disease resistance
(immunity) is impossible,
pathologists and breeders strive to
develop hybrids that are strong
enough to keep diseases from
significantly affecting yields
Adding to this challenge is
maintaining hybrid excellence by
introducing hybrids that surpass
older hybrids in quality. "We
constantly have to produce hybrids
which exceed the performance of
those already in existence,” Smith
states.
To accomplish this objective,
pathologists run many tests.
During 1984, the reactions of
Dekalb-Pfizer Genetics parents
and hybrids to 22 pathogens or
races of pathogens were
evaluated. And in a project unique
to Dekalb-Pfizer, the distribution
of disease and the possibility of
race formation is studied every
year, as well This project, called
the corn pathogen monitoring
program, has yielded valuable
results, both in the movement of
diseases across the country and in
describing new races. Such in
formation can be used at both the
breeding level and by the com
pany's sqles and marketing staff,
when disseminating information to
pru ed
dealcisanu
i.’ ,
hybrid Inal may ue advanced to
commercial status Smith and
Dale Dowden, Associate
Pathologist at the company's Mt.
Olive, NC research facility, make
over 23,000 disease observations in
test plots each year A "double
confirmation" system is employed
to ensure the accuracy of these
observations.
This double confirmation is
based on the visual rating of
diseased (inoculated) plants to
determine the effect the disease
has had on the plants themselves,
and on yield-loss tests conducted
on both inoculated an uninoculated
plants to determine the effects the
disease has had on the plants'
yields. The system provides data
not only on which plants are most
disease-resistant, but also on those
plants which may still produce
high yields even though diseased.
This information may in turn be
useful ‘to the sales force when
recommending the best-yielding
hybrid for a specific type of
growing conditions.
Providing such support to the
sales force is yet another of the
pathologist’s duties. "Some
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mornings 1 spend in the office
analyzing samples from the field,'
Smith notes. That keeps me in
touch with members of the sales
force by helping them give a
particular grower an explanation
for a problem to reduce the
probability of its recurrence."
Spotting these problems in time
to treat them effectively is often
difficult. Smith goes on to say
Sometimes when the problems are
visible to the grower, the actual
damage was done much earlier
"For example,' Smith explains,
although many growers detect
stalk rot at harvest, it’s largely a
result of growing conditions prior
to harvest. The ground may have
been wet while the plant started
growing, then may have dried up
while the grain was filling. Here's
where the problem actually
begins. Sugar was drawn from the
stalk dunne grain filling. Under
need
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Illinois customers call collect
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stressful periods, stalk lodging and
rotting may result because of
inadequate sugar reserves in the
stalk.
If it had been drier during
planting and wetter later, a non
stress ,, ' 1n vou might not
have had such a > lem StaM’
quality is a result of tin
growing season, not something
that is determined just prior to
harvest."
Dealing with such problems and
analyzing hybrids for the world's
largest seed research organization
make the job of the plant
pathologist a challenging one But
such efforts ultimately provide the
farmer with superior corn hybrids,
possesmg both high yield potential
and bred-in resistance to disease,
insects, and stress As David Smith
concludes, Our Dekalb-Pfizer
hybrids come with built-in
protection.
So to take advantage of this
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Buildings salesman for complete
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Ph 717/334-2168
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Ph 703/825-3633
Ph 302/398-8100
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