Occurrence of Soybean Rust Caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi in the Philippines and Its Wild Legume Hosts

It was not until 1970s that soybeans became one of major crops in the Philippines although soybeans were introduced from southern China and land races were established in the Philippines as early as the first century or by not later than 15 16th century6). Recently soybeans have become an increasingly important crop in the country and their production has been encouraged by the government. Before early 1970s, land races of soybeans were cultivated in small scale by local farmers in the Philippines. But current soybean production is undertaken in a large scale farming system known as financed farms•h and •gcooperative farms•h11). A few cultivars with preferable agronomic characters are