A system to map the risk of infection by Puccinia kuehnii in Brazil

ABSTRACT. Orange rust caused by the fungus Puccinia kuehnii greatly affects sugarcane and causes millions of tons of losses in production. This condition was first reported in Brazil at the end of 2009. The disease is currently present in most of the countries that produce this crop. The aim of this research was to develop risk maps of P. kuehnii infection using temperature and relative humidity data, provided by 389 automatic weather stations throughout the country. A spatial distribution analysis was carried out to assess the number of daily hours of favorable conditions for spore germinatio...