January 24, 2003

A ProMED-mail post
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
Source: Reuters, 22 Jan 2003 [edited]

Soybean research scientist Claudia Godoy of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) told Reuters that the Australasian soybean rust fungus (_Phakopsora pachyrhizi_) [Pp], which damaged 400 000 hectares (988 000 acres) of Brazil's soybean production area in 2001/02, has been found in the new crop near Itapeva in Sao Paulo State.

The field was immediately sprayed with fungicide and, according to Godoy, yield will not be affected. But, Godoy added, Pp spores are now in the atmosphere and could be spread by wind to other soybean areas, sapping the potential of plants to produce soybeans, Brazil's top farm export crop.

Although Sao Paulo State is a minor soybean production area, it is next to Parana, the second most productive soybean-producing state in Brazil.

[Byline:Peter Blackburn]

[Soybean producers in Latin America are concerned about possible northern movement of Pp spores, eventually causing disease in soybean-producing areas of  the United States. According to estimates made by USDA experts in 1995, Pp could cut soybean yields by more than 10 percent anywhere in the USA, and up to 50 percent loss in the southeastern states. The major concern for US producers is that Pp naturally infects 31 legume species in 17 different genera. One of those plants is kudzu (_Pueraria montana_ var. _lobata_), a common weed pest in the Southeast, which might serve as a
continual source of inoculum. Federal and state agencies in USA have mobilized resources for monitoring possible occurrence of Pp in the country. Most experts believe that the disease will eventually appear in the USA, hence the preparations in progress.

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