Asian Soybean Rust Found on Volunteer Soybean in Georgia

April 28, 2005

Asian soybean rust, caused by the fungal pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi, was positively identified by diagnosticians at the University of Georgia’s Plant Disease Clinic located in Tifton, GA on 28 April, 2005. The diagnosis was based upon morphological characteristics of the pathogen and symptoms on the host. The disease was found on “volunteer” soybeans (i.e. soybeans sprouting from seeds left in the field from the 2004 crop) by Rome Ethredge, UGA Cooperative Extension Service, in Seminole County near Donalsonville on Tuesday, 27 April, 2005. This marks the first confirmed report of Asian soybean rust in the United States outside of Florida in 2005 and the first report of the disease on a host other than kudzu for the nation this season.

The faculty and staff from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are working closely with the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the USDA-APHIS to scout for Asian soybean rust across the state. Monitoring plots have been established at more than 25 locations and county agents are monitoring additional sites as well.

In surveys thus far in Georgia, Asian soybean rust has only been found in Seminole County. It has not yet been found in nearby Decatur or Grady counties, nor has the disease been found in more eastern and northern areas of the soybean production region in the state. Intensive scouting will continue to follow the likely spread of this disease in the state.

Carlos Martinez, State Plant Health Director, State of Georgia
R. C. Kemerait, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia

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