The sanitary void of soybeans as a measure to control Asian rust and the importance of official plant health defense actions in this context

Abstract

In Mato Grosso do Sul agribusiness accounts for 30% of gross domestic product - GDP, being the 5th largest soybean producer in the country and the 4th in corn production. According to the state government, the 2020/21 soybean crop exceeded forecasts and reached 13.305 million tons, a volume 17.8% higher than that of the 2019/2020 crop. Asian rust is one of the diseases that most affect and compromise soybean production. The causative agent is the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which is biotrophic, polycyclic and has a large amplitude of hosts, which gives it the ability to survive from one agricultural year to another, thanks to "green bridges". Asian rust, which was rapidly softened every year, was so severe in the 2005/2006 crop that there was a mobilization among those involved in the production chain, to try to standardize the activity and reduce the problem in the following harvests. This joint effort, with forums and meetings, came the creation of a state legislation based on the prevention and control of Asian Soybean Rust in Mato Grosso do Sul. Its initial milestone was State Law No. 3,333, of December 21, 2006, whose purpose was to implement the sanitary void of soybeans and make it mandatory to control raccoon plants after harvest. To make the effects of the sanitary void more effective, State Law No. 5025, of July 19, 2017, prohibited the cultivation of safrinha soybeans. Then, the Secretary of State for The Environment, Economic Development, Production and Family Agriculture - SEMAGRO published Resolution SEMAGRO No. 648, from August 15, 2017, establishing the soy sowing calendar from September 16 to December 31. In order to characterize the health defense actions related to the supervision and application of legislation dealing with the sanitary void, for the purpose of maintaining the control of Asian soybean rust in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, it was carried out the survey of information of inspection actions with the state agency, from 2009 to 2021, stored in the IAGRO database. The information showed that, after the law of emptiness, the work of supervision and health education positively influenced compliance with the legislation, since few producers deliberately broke the law, especially with regard to sowing during the period of sanitary vacuum. The greatest amount of infractions was due to the lack of mandatory registration of planting areas, followed by the lack of control of raccoon soybean plants.