Aug 12, 2010
Brazilian Scientists Trying to Discover Cause of "Crazy Soybean II"
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
As Brazilian soybean scientists gather this week for their 31st annual Soybean Research Conference in Brasilia, one of the top areas of discussion will be a new phenomenon that has been discovered in Brazilian soybean fields over the last two years called "Crazy Soybean II". Researchers do not know what is causing the phenomenon, if it is a disease, a virus, a fungus, or if it is caused by insect attacks or environmental conditions.
When the phenomenon is present, it causes abnormal leaf development, unusually high flower and pod abortion, pods that are heavier than normal but have fewer seeds than normal pods. The most striking aspect of this anomaly is the fact that the soybean plants never seem to mature. At the time when a normal soybean plant would start to shed its leaves, an infected plant stays entirely green and the leaves never turn yellow. In fact, the infected soybeans never mature at all.
The phenomenon was reported last year in the soybean producing states of Mato Grosso, Goias, Parana, Para, and Maranhao. Where the anomaly was most pronounced, yields losses were reported as high as 40%.
Brazilian scientists have established a reporting and monitoring system to track the conditions that might lead to the cause of this anomaly. They hesitate to call it a disease because at the present time, they do not know what causes it.