Secretariat of Agriculture of Rio Grande do Sul publishes results of Asian rust monitoring in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 harvests

The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Sustainable Production and Irrigation (Seapi), through the Departments of Agricultural Diagnosis and Research (DDPA) and Plant Defense (DDV), published Technical Circular nº 18, on the monitoring of Asian rust during the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 harvests in Rio Grande do Sul.

In the publication, information contained in the Monitora Ferrugem RS Program database was compiled, with the participation of 48 municipalities in the 2021/2022 harvest and 46 municipalities in the 2022/2023 harvest.

“Asian rust is caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi and its field monitoring is done with spore collectors. It is a management practice that allows the detection of fungus uredospores that are spread by the wind, before the development of disease symptoms”, explains researcher Andréia Mara Rotta de Oliveira, one of the authors of the publication.

The data collected by the Monitora Ferrugem RS Program in the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 harvests showed the presence of the fungus throughout the entire soybean development cycle, but with a large variation in the amount of uredospores, both within the same crop and between the different crops or monitored locations.

“Monitoring the presence of the pathogen, associated with information on climatic conditions favorable to infections by the fungus, is a tool that can be used to assess the potential risk of Asian soybean rust epidemics occurring throughout the harvest, throughout the entire season. development of culture”, concludes Andréia.

The Monitora Ferrugem RS Program began in the 2020/2021 harvest and is developed by Seapi and Emater/RS, with the support of several teaching and research institutions in the State. The Program aims to monitor the presence of the fungus that causes Asian soybean rust and identify meteorological conditions favorable to the development of the pathogen, generating prognoses for its occurrence.

Access the circular at the link below: