Mississippi State, Mississippi
March 27, 2008
Well before planting time, the
fight against Asian soybean rust is already under way in
Mississippi as sentinel plots are planted and genetic resistance
to the disease is being developed.
Billy Moore, pathologist emeritus working parttime with the rust
program for the Mississippi
State University Extension Service, said
Schillinger Seeds
is developing resistance to soybean rust.
“In 2006, they had fantastic resistance,” Moore said. “This past
year, it looked very good again, and we think the resistance may
hold up five or six years or longer under our conditions.”
Moore said limited supplies of soybeans with genetic resistance
to rust should be available by 2011.
In the meantime, what have become routine early warning efforts
are again in progress across the state.
By late March, Extension professionals had planted 22 soybean
sentinel plots. These small plots range from 15-50 feet wide and
100-200 feet long, and each is planted to soybeans from four
maturity groups. They are scattered throughout the state from
Alcorn and DeSoto counties in the north to George and Wilkinson
counties in the south.
“We plant early so these soybeans in the sentinel plots will
reach the most susceptible stage before the soybeans in
commercial production reach that stage,” Moore said.
Soybean rust was found in several sentinel plots in the state in
2007 and did move into some commercial fields before the
production season was over. Soybean specialists kept close tabs
on the rust invasion, the crop’s maturity levels and weather
conditions, and they made management recommendations based on
these factors.
“States all around us were suggesting that their producers spray
fungicides to combat the rust,” Moore said. “Our weather in
Mississippi was not favorable for rust, so we suggested that
most of our growers not spray.”
Moore said hindsight showed the recommendations were right on
target, and growers are “very satisfied” with how MSU handled
the situation.
“We try to look at this thing as if we’re spending our own
money,” Moore said. “With bean prices at $13-$14 a bushel,
producers are more likely to go out and use fungicide even if
it’s not necessary. We’re trying to get them to use it only if
conditions are favorable for a rust infection.”
Tom Allen, the Extension plant pathologist at the Delta Research
and Extension Center in Stoneville, said producers planted about
300 percent more wheat acreage this winter than last.
“If soybean seeds are available, the vast majority of the wheat
growers are going to put soybeans on those acres after wheat
harvest,” Allen said. “Those late-planted soybeans will be most
susceptible to rust if it comes through here like it has in the
past few years.”
Allen said fungicide applications for rust cost about $9-$14 per
acre per application. Last year, those producers who had to
treat for rust needed only one application.
“We intend to stay more in touch than last year with our growers
and all those in the soybean industry,” Allen said. “There is
active rust right now on kudzu in Florida, some in Louisiana and
at least one spot in Alabama.”
The Mississippi Soybean Promotion Board and
BASF annually fund a toll-free
soybean rust hotline for producers in Mississippi, Louisiana and
Arkansas. Producers can call (866) 641-1847 to learn the latest
information on rust and current management recommendations for
each state. The hotline will be activated early in the 2008
production season.
“The hotline will be the main clearinghouse for accurate
information on rust when it begins to be found in these three
states,” Allen said.
By Bonnie Coblentz, MSU Ag
Communications |
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