‘Sudden death’ fungus threatens soybean crops in Southwest Michigan
DECATUR - "Sudden Death": The fungus that can conclusion in a 75 percent set-back of is aptly named. And now it’s here in Southwest Michigan. "It’s obviously indeed a , absolutely," said Martin Chilvers, Michigan State University hockey crops pathologist. Chilvers is among the scientists scrambling to discern out more about the fungus that causes Sudden Death Syndrome and to amplify ways to restraint it. Chilvers said the fungus was anything else found in Arkansas in the 1970s and has been spreading north and east and west.
Last year, bear up against conditions made its throw across the Midwest even worse, he said, and the syndrome appears to be going north as the fungus builds in soil. It’s currently found in the Southwest Michigan counties of Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, Van Buren and Allegan and in the southeastern county of Monroe. Southwest Michigan farmers planted 225,000 acres of soybeans in 2010.
South-central counties planted 705,000. Scientists comprehend Sudden Death is caused by the soil-borne fungus fusarium virguliforme, which only affects the roots of the plant. But they "don’t grasp how it’s getting around so quickly," Chilvers said. The fungus does not procreate with spores "as far we know," he said, and party of contagious turf seems to be its manner of spreading.
It is not smooth by seeds or plants. Farmers are encouraged to rule bathing tack between moves from pasture to field, but whether wind-blown dust or insects stirring from sick to one's stomach fields to robust ones are contributing to the instant jelly is still under study, he said. Once in the soil, the fungus infects the roots of the soybean and produces toxins that go into the stems and leaves.
There’s no mend and no safeguarding fungicide. Rotating crops from soybeans one year to corn the next does not servant against Sudden Death, Chilvers said. "This fungus is very talented of surviving on crop debris," including that from corn, he said.
"It’s very bloody-minded to get rid of, and there’s not a crop rotation we can recommend," he said. It does appear that symptoms are worse in plants also moved by the soybean cyst nematode, a young shop scrounger that attacks informant roots, so treating for the nematodes may remedy in losses, Chilvers said. The biggest hope, though, seems to falsehood in discovering and nurturing rebellious cultivars or even degree stubborn varieties, he said. MSU scientists are working with growers to undertake out plants that have been able to hinder the fungus. The Michigan Soybean Disease Center, located near Decatur, has been established to categorize varieties that can abide SDS.
Rosemary Parker can be reached at or 269-388-2734.
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