Plant Health Initiative

Bean Pod Mottle Virus - Management

Researchers at Iowa State University have constructed a flowchart to help growers with insect/virus management decisions.

Although bean leaf beetles transmit BPMV all season long, soybeans are most affected when infection occurs in the seedling stage.

Soybean varieties have been observed to differ in their tolerance to BPMV, and progress has been made in quantifying those differences.

Current management options for managing bean pod mottle virus are:

• plant virus-free, certified soybean seed,
• time soybean planting to avoid the highest populations of the bean leaf beetle. This can be done using a degree day model. The method is described in detail in the article Predicting first-generation bean leaf beetles (Integrated Crop Management Newsletter, Iowa State University)
• consider early-season insecticide treatments if BPMV has been confirmed in your fields in previous years and bean leaf beetles are present

Managing the bean leaf beetle for BPMV control

Researchers at Iowa State University have constructed a flowchart to help growers with insect/virus management decisions. The flowchart is a dynamic, two-pronged decision guide based on field history. If bean pod mottle virus has not been present in your fields, then the only reason to consider early-season bean leaf beetle management is if populations reach extremely high levels  (more than 2.5 beetles per plant). Insecticide treatment will not be cost-effective if the virus is not present.  View flowchart (pdf)»
View the entire ICM article»

Right now, most of the information for predicting economically important variables for beetle damage is available. More information is still needed regarding bean pod mottle virus. As more research is conducted, the results can be added to the decision guide.

Accurate diagnosis is the key to virus management

Soybean viruses are spread by different vectors and have very different management requirements. Therefore, it's important to know which viruses are most prevalent. Unfortunately, the symptoms caused by BPMV are similar to those caused by other viruses. This makes it difficult to diagnose BPMV and most other viruses based on symptoms alone.

Serological tests can accurately detect and distinguish among suspected viruses. Most diagnostic clinics in the North Central region are able to perform these tests.