Brazil: Soybean sowing calendars become mandatory for 20 states
06 September 2021, Brazil: Measure is part of the strategy for the management of Asian Soybean Rust, considered one of the most severe that affect the culture
Federal Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Map) published on Thursday (2), in the Official Gazette, Ordinance No. 389 establishing soybean sowing calendars for the 2021/2022 harvest, which should be followed by producing states throughout the country.
The phytosanitary measure, implemented in the National Program for the Control of Asian Soybean Rust (PNCFS), aims to rationalize the number of fungicide applications and reduce the risks of developing resistance of the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi to the chemical molecules used in the control of this pest.
Sowing, which, until now, was established only in the states of Bahia, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Santa Catarina and Tocantins, is also mandatory, from this harvest, in the states of Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Ceará, Federal District, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Piauí, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima and São Paulo, totaling 20 states with a period determined for the beginning and end of planting.
The calendars were established from the suggestions of State Agencies for Agricultural Defense and Climate Risk Agricultural Zoning, adjusted according to the peculiar conditions of each producing region.
“The adjustments were made by the national coordination of the PNFS, which identified the need to expand the collection of data that support the delimitation of the different periods of sowing calendars, as well as their effective impact on the intended results of the program,” explains the general coordinator of Plant Protection, Graciane de Castro.
According to the coordinator, the objective is that the measure be implemented in an organic and gradual way, allowing subsequent periods to be stipulated coherently with the context of each productive region, especially with regard to soil and climate characteristics, management practices adopted in the prevention and control of pests and the results of monitoring related to its occurrence in each agricultural year.
National Soybean Asian Rust Control Program
The PNCFS, instituted by Ordinance No. 306/2021, aims to strengthen the soybean agricultural production system, bringing together strategic actions of plant health defense with support from agricultural research and technical assistance in pest prevention and control.
Asian Rust, caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is considered one of the most severe that affect soybean cultivation, and can occur at any phenological stage. In the various geographic regions where Asian rust has been reported at epidemic levels, damage varies from 10% to 90% of production.