Nematodes of Agricultural Importance in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio

In the North Central Region of the U.S, in the five states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Ohio agricultural production is predominated by maize and soybean. In this southern portion of the Mississippi River Drainage Basin, precipitation is mostly distributed throughout the year allowing for efficient dryland farming on fertile soils. The large-acre crops maize and soybean have a limited number of plant-parasitic nematodes that cause economic damage. Especially Heterodera glycines (soybean cyst nematode, SCN) is a constant threat to sustainable soybean production. Other plant-parasitic nematodes, e.g. root-knot nematodes, are more localized in occurrence but can cause severe yield losses in specialty crops like watermelon or other vegetable crops.