Risk of soybean rust low for Indiana
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Indiana soybean crop appears to be out of danger of soybean rust infection this year, said a Purdue University crop disease expert.
Soybean rust, first discovered in the United States in 2004, is caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, said Kiersten Wise, assistant professor of botany and plant pathology. It is capable of destroying a crop if it establishes itself in a field early. Certain weather conditions can favor the spread of the infection. The fungus uses nutrients manufactured in soybean leaves to support its growth and reproduction, resulting in yield loss.
"Soybean rust development is unique this year," Wise said. "The 2009-10 winter was a cold one in the south, and a freeze killed a large portion of the kudzu in the southern U.S."
Soybean rust survives the winter on this perennial legume weed, and then infects soybeans in the spring, she said. The development of the disease has been slow in 2010, and the disease is currently still confined to the lower tier of states in the south.
The majority of soybeans in Indian are at or past the growth state where soybean rust would cause yield loss, Wise said. The low risk of soybean rust in Indiana this year does not influence the risk of soybean rust development in 2011.
"This disease behaves differently every year in the United States, so we have to monitor it carefully each year," Wise said.
For more information on soybean rust visit http://www.sbrusa.net
Writer: Jeanne Gibson, 765-496-7481, jegibson@purdue.edu
Source: Kiersten Wise, 765-496-2170, kawise@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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