The National Plant and Seed Quality and Health Service (Senave) has determined that, with the start of the phytosanitary fallow period for soybean cultivation, owners and lessees of plots must adopt mandatory measures, such as eliminating all living soybean plants, including those located around warehouses, silos, edges of internal roads, and areas within the property boundaries.
The same rule applies to responsible institutions, concessionaires, and administrators of railways, river ports, airports, public roads, and national routes, as well as silos and warehouses under their management.
Through Resolution No. 303/26, Senave established the phytosanitary fallow calendar: in the Western Region, the period runs from June 15 to September 15; in the Eastern Region, exceptionally this year, the interval will be from June 20 to August 30.
The fallow period consists of the time during which all cultivation areas intended for soybean grain and seed production, as well as volunteer soybeans and alternative hosts of the disease, must remain free of living plants, with the aim of minimizing the effects of Asian soybean rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi).
The pathogen Phakopsora pachyrhizi, which causes Asian soybean rust, does not survive in infected crop residues but can persist for about 50 days on volunteer plants that germinate after harvest. Under favorable environmental conditions, the fungus develops rapidly and easily infects the host, according to the institution.
Senave reinforced its call for producers to comply with the established deadlines and keep plots free of soybeans during the indicated period, as part of the phytosanitary prevention actions promoted at the national level.
The estimate for the main soybean harvest for the 2025/26 cycle has been raised to 10.94 million tons, according to the international consultancy StoneX. Adding a second-crop (zafriña) production of 1.40 million tons to this figure, Paraguay's total soybean output for the cycle is expected to reach 12.34 million tons.