Soybean diseases in Argentina

PLOPER, L. D.

Compendium of Soybean Diseases and Pests - 5th Edition

APS Press. The American Phytopathological Society

Lugar: Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Año: 2015; p. 5 - 7

At present, soybean is the most important crop in Argentina. Data on production, industrialization, and exports of soybean grain, oil, and meal indicate the significance of the soybean industry to the country. In the 2011-12 growing season, 40.1 × 106 t were produced from 18.7 × 106 ha, with an average yield of 2.28 t per ha, lower than the average of the last ten seasons, 2.63 t per ha. In 2012, Argentina was the third producer of soybean in the world (17%), and the leading world exporter of soybean oil and soybean meal, exporting 3.8× 106 t (45% of the world market in 2012) and 26.0 × 106 t (44%), respectively. Soybean products represented 20.0% of the total exports of Argentina in 2012. Approximately 80% of the soybean is produced in the central and Pampean region (provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Pampa, San Luis, and Santa Fe), whereas 9% comes from the Northwestern region (provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta, Santiago del Estero, and Tucumán) and 11% from the Eastern region (provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, Entre Ríos, Formosa, and Misiones). Soybean is planted as a single annual crop or as a second crop following wheat.Infectious diseases are important limiting factors as crops in most regions are grown under conditions that favor the survival and development of many of the numerous pathogens that affect soybean. The number and severity of biotic diseases have increased steadily, particularly since early 1990s.Several factors have contributed to the escalation of disease problems in the country. In addition to problems with the seed, at first related to inadequate seed production techniques but in latter years to the lack of use of certified seed, other crop management practices that became popular during the 1990s have favored the survival of pathogens and the development of diseases. Continued monocropping and no-tillage systems, which are practices widely used at present in soybean production, have been related with many of the disease problems in recent years.Approximately 40 infectious diseases have been reported on soybean in Argentina. The impact of these diseases is variable. Some of them are endemic and usually do not produce damage, whereas others can cause important losses under favorable conditions. Severe epidemics have occurred within the last 20 years.