Important Diseases of Soybean Crop and Their Management

Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. genus name Glycine was originally introduced by Carl Linnaeus in his first edition of Genera Plantarum . The plant is classed as an oilseed rather than a pulse. Soybean is one of the most important crops for world food security, ranking first among field crops for protein production per hectare. Soybean rust is a major disease of soybeans in many parts of the world. Affected plants are quickly defoliated, reducing pod set and fill, which results in reduced yields and seed quality. Soybean rust is difficult to identify in the early stages of infection, as symptoms are very small, poorly defined and occur in the lower-middle canopy of the plant, where it is humid. As leaves show symptoms, infection may be mistaken for spider/mite damage or foliar diseases such as Septoria brown spot, bacterial blight or bacterial pustule.