Pre-emergence grass weed control in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with soil applied premixed herbicides influenced by precipitations

Z. Pacanoski¹ and A. Mehmeti²*

¹Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food, 16-ta Makedonska brigada 3, MK1000 Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia
²University of Prishtina, Department of Plant Protection, Bill Clinton p.n., XK10000 Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo
*Corresponding address: arben.mehmeti@uni-pr.edu

Abstract:

The field trials were conducted during two winter wheat growing seasons (2013–2014 and 2014–2015, respectively) to estimate weed control, and influence of herbicides on grain yield with PRE premixes in winter wheat crops. The field trials were conducted with ‘Ingenio’ and ‘Pobeda’ winter wheat cultivars which were sowed in a well-prepared soil seedbed at a seeding rate of 220 and 240 kg ha^-1. The experimental design was a randomised complete block with four replicates and elementary plots 25 m². The efficacy of PRE herbicides varied with treatments among weed species and periods of efficacy estimation, regions and years, respectively. Overall, the performance of the PRE herbicide premixes correlated with the weather conditions. All PRE herbicide premixes effectively reduced the dominant weed species Milium vernale, Papaver rhoeas, and Galium aparine in the Bitola region in 2013–2014, but not in 2014–2015 due to heavy rain during the first two weeks of herbicide application. In contrast, the limited precipitation after PRE application may have contributed to the poor performance of PRE herbicides in the Probištip region in 2013 compared with 2014. In the Bitola region, the lowest crop yield was obtained in plots treated with diflufenican + isoproturon (2,960 kg ha^-1) in both growing seasons. In the Probištip region, the wheat grain yields in 2013–2014 following all PRE applied herbicides were significantly lower (between 520 and 800 kg ha^-1) than weed-free control. In 2014–2015, diflufenican + isoproturon herbicide treatment produced the lowest yield of 2,530 kg ha^-1, whereas chlortoluron + triasulfuronwas the highest-yielding herbicide treatment (2,820 kg ha^-1). However, results indicated that in Bitola region comparatively higher yield were found in plots treated with chlortoluron + triasulfuron (3,450 kg ha^-1), in both growing seasons, also in Probistip region herbicide chlortoluron + triasulfuron achieved higher yield (2,820 kg ha^-1), in both growing seasons).

Key words:

efficacy, PRE herbicide, weeds, wheat