Influence of row spacing and plant population density on management of white mould in soybean in southern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Jaccoud-Filho, David de Souza
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Sartori, Felipe Fadel [UNESP], Manosso-Neto, Miguel, Vrisman, Cláudio Maurício, Pierre, Marcelo L. da Cunha, Berger-Neto, Ayrton, Túllio, Hamilton Edemundo, Justino, Altair, da Fonseca, Adriel Ferreira, Zanon, Sérgio [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/220604
• topic: Glycine max; Incidence; Sclerotinia sclerotiorum; Severity; Yield

White mould is a disease caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary and it has become a major problem for soybean in Brazil, mainly due to the use of contaminated seeds and machinery, monoculture, and the use of susceptible species as crop rotation. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of different row spacing and plant population densities on soybean crop in relation to the levels of incidence and the severity of S. sclerotiorum. Field trials were carried out during 2010-2012 crop seasons. Row spacings of 0.35, 0.45, 0.60 and 0.75 metres, and plant population densities of 150,000, 200,000, 250,000 and 300,000 plants ha-1 were used. The incidence and severity of white mould, the yield, and the thousand grain weight were evaluated. Spacing at 0.35 metres increased yield but it caused greater incidence of the disease. A reduced number of plants in the crop rows reduced the severity of the disease. Farmers with a history of problems with S. sclerotiorum should avoid narrow row spacings and high plant population densities.