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Main Article Content
Bean Pod Mottle Virus (BPMV) (Genus Comovirus): A Limiting Factor in the Production of Soybean (Glycine max (L) Merril) in Humid Tropical Zone of Nigeria
Abstract
The reactions of twenty soybean varieties to infection with Bean Pod Mottle Virus (BPMV) (Genus Comovirus) disease were studied for 2 consecutive years in the Department of Crop Science University of Nigeria, Nsukka Farm (Latitude 060 25N; Longitude 070 24N; attitude 447.26 m above sea level). Factorial arrangement of treatments involving twenty soybean varieties was laid out in the field in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The fields were exposed to natural infection by vectors of BPMV, surveyed for symptoms of BPMV, screened using DAS ELISA for BPMV and differentiated infected soybean plants from healthy plants by tagging. The twenty soybean varieties differed significantly (P<0.05) in the incidence and disease severity rating of BPMV disease. BPMV disease infections significantly (P <0.05) reduced soybean plant height from 36.8 cm to 32.5 cm in year 2005 and from 48.3 cm to 41.3 cm in year 2006; number of branches from 5.3 to 4.8 in year 2005 and from 4.7 to 2.8 in year 2006; number of pods from 62.8 to 42.0 in year 2005 and from 85.4 to 43.2 in year 2006. Healthy soybean plants produced the highest grain yield (1.56t/ha) while infected soybean plants produced the least grain yield (0.90t/ha).
Keywords: Soybean, Bean Pod Mottle Virus, Limiting factors, Tropical zone
