August 2009

90-day Ban On Soybean Production In Effect In Brazil

Starting on Monday June 15th and extending until September 15th, it will be prohibited to have commercial soybeans growing in Mato Grosso and in other regions of central Brazil. This ban was started four years ago as a way to slow down the advance of soybean rust. Anyone found growing soybeans during this period would face fines and the destruction of the crop. Legitimate research organization and seed companies are exempt, but they must obtain permission from the state to grow the crop and the fields are closely monitored for soybean rust.

This ban also applies to volunteer soybeans that may have germinated in harvested fields, along roadways, or in the vicinity of grain handling facilities. Once notified about the volunteer plants, the landowner is responsible for destroying them. Last year in Mato Grosso, state inspectors notified 150 landowners that volunteer soybeans were found on their property. The landowner was then responsible for destroying the plants.

All the major soybean-producing states in Brazil now have a similar ban on soybean production during the dry season. The dates may vary slightly, but the goal remains the same, a 90-day period when no live soybean plants are available to serve as host plants for soybean rust. This has been a very successful method of slowing the introduction of the disease into newly planted soybean fields. Even though soybean plants may not be growing during the dry season, there are many other tropical legumes that can serve as host plants for the disease. Therefore, soybean rust is never going to be eliminated from Brazil. Brazilian scientist and farmers though have become more successful in controlling the losses from the disease.