December 23, 2004

81 Brazilian Test Farms Detect Presence of Soy Rust

The number of Brazilian municipalities that registered cases of Asian soybean rust disease surged from 51 to 81 in six days, according to the government's crop research department Embrapa on Tuesday.

The fast spreading fungus, which can reduce crop yields as much as 80 percent if left untreated, was detected on test farms in the Federal District and in eight producer states - Mato Grosso, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Maranhao.

"It is important that producers intensify the monitoring of their areas and remain attentive to new information over rust outbreaks," Embrapa researcher Ademir Henning said.

The disease becomes more prevalent as the crop season progresses. The new crop planting has just finished and as soy plants begin to flower and form beans, they become more vulnerable to rust.

The number of commercial areas that have registered outbreaks of rust rose to 27 on Tuesday from 19 last week, Embrapa said.

Many producers in the surrounding areas of registered cases of rust are spraying preventive fungicide applications on their fields.

The disease caused losses of over 4.5 million tons in soybean output from last year's crop and has been claiming greater losses every year since it first appeared in South America in 2001.