Weed Control J 2023; 22: e202300775

Research Article

Broad-spectrum weed control of the new herbicide pyroxasulfone

DOI: 10.7824/wcj.2023;22:00775

Abstract:

Background:

There is not sufficient information about the efficiency of pyroxasulfone to the control of the main weeds that infest Brazilian agricultural areas.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the pyroxasulfone treatments to control some of the main weeds present in Brazil in comparison to S-metolachlor and trifluralin.

Methods:

The treatments consisted of five doses of pyroxasulfone (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 g ha⁻¹), two doses of S-metolachlor (960 and 1920 g ha⁻¹), two doses of trifluralin (562.5 and 1125 g ha⁻¹) and a untreated control. The visual control (scale from 0 to 100%) was evaluated at 14, 28 and 42 days after herbicide application and the fresh shoots mass were collected at 42 DAT for biomass quantification. Independent experiment was performed for each of the following weed species: Amaranthus viridis, Chloris elata, Conyza spp., Echinochloa crus-galli, Urochloa decumbens, Digitaria horizontalis, Digitaria insularis, Eleusine indica, Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum, Panicum maximum, Raphanus raphanistrum, Spermacoce latifolia, Spermacoce verticillata.

Results:

The results suggest that the application of 100 g ha⁻¹ of pyroxasulfone in pre-emergence was an effective treatment to control all weeds evaluated.

Conclusions:

The application of 100 g ha⁻¹ of pyroxasulfone had similar or higher control than the highest doses of S-metolachlor and trifluralin. These results confirm that pyroxasulfone is an important tool for weed management in many crops as well as it might help to mitigate herbicide resistance.