Field experience with RR maize in Czech Republic

Josef SoukupV. Venclová, M. Jursík, J. Holec, J. Janků, L. Procházka

Czech University of Life Sciences Praguesoukup@af.czu.cz

Prague14th June 2011

Content of the presentation:

Maize in CZEnvironmental conditions and weedoccurence in CZPrinciples and issues of weed controlin maizeExperience with Roundup Readysystem in maizeField visit - trial with RR maize

Corn production: 2/3 of the area or 8.4 Mha

Silage: 36% of the area or 4.7 Mha

Source: European Confederation of Maize Production

Biogas stations

http://www.biogaz-zeneris.com.pl/attachments/079_Ready_Biogas_Stations.pdf

Map of biogass stations in CZ(253 in total)

Area in CZ endangeredby water erosion

Water erosion

(www.vumop.cz)

most endangered

strongly endangered

moderat. endangered

slightly endangered

not endangered

„Cross Compliance“ requirementsGAEC – Good Agricultural and Env. Conditions

GAEC 1, GAEC 2 – Soil erosionMaize and other wide-row crops may not be grown in fields strongly endangered by erosionIn field moderately endangered by erosion, only soil conservation tillage may be used

Plant residues should cover 30% of soil surfaceNo-till or reduced tillage should be used

Mulch as a protective measureagainst water erosion

Maize sowing in mulchusing no-till sowing machine

Weed control in maizedependes on site conditions

Geographical distribution of weedsMediterranean, Central/West/North Europe

Climatic / weather conditionsevaporation, drought periodessoil moisture – weed emergence, herbicide uptake

Farming practicesshare of maize in crop rotationssoil tillage systems

oceanic

Higher altitudes, colder climateChenopodium albumAgropyron repensPolygonum lapathifoliumPolygonum convolvulusPolygonum aviculareMatricaria sp....

Lowland, warmer regionsAmaranthus retroflexusEchinochloa crus-galliPolygonum lapathifoliumAgropyron repensChenopodium albumPolygonum convolvulusAbutilon Theophrasti...

Natural conditions vs. weed occurence in CZ

continental climate

Most frequent weeds in CZ(conventional: after herbicide application)

conventional farming

Survey by Kolarova and Tyser, 2008-2009

Most frequent weeds in CZ(organic: after mechanical weed control)

organic farming

Survey by Kolarova and Tyser, 2008-2009

Weeds of various life cyclescan occur in maize...

Summer annuals(Chenopodium album, Polygonum lapathifolium, Amaranthus spp., Echinochloa crus-galli, Solanumsp., Mercurialis annua, Abutilon, Panicum, ...)

Winter annuals(Matricaria spp., Stellaria media, Galium aparine, Thlaspi arvense, Capsella bursa pastoris, ...)

Spring annuals(Polygonum convolvulus, P. aviculare, Geleopsistetrahit, Sinapis arvensis, Avena fatua, ...)

Perennial(Agropyron repens, Cirsium arvense, Concolvulusarvensis, Sonchus arvensis, Equisetum arvense,...)

0,0

50,0

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250,0

300,0

350,0

400,0

450,0

3.3 2.4 2.5 1.6 1.7

31.7

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29.9

29.10

28.11po

čet v

zešl

ých

rost

lin (m

2)Emergence of summer annual weeds (CZ)

E. crus-galli

M. annua

Ch. album

A. retroflexus

S. nigrum

D. stramonium

3-4 months weed emergence

Jursík et al. 2007, adapted

No.

ofe

mer

ged

plan

ts

Driving factors:- temperatures- soil moisture- seed dormancy- photoperiodism- soil tillage- ...

Patterns of weed emergence in maize:- many factors involved- cumulative temperatures seem to be the

main factor- soil moisture and photosensitivity are the

sources of seasonal variability- very hard to predict the best time for weed

control in maize

Sousa et al.: Predicting weed emergence in maize crops under two contrasting climaticconditions. Weed Res. 3, 251-260, 2009.

Influence of temperatureon crop – weed interactions

Temperature influences:• weed community composition• symetry of competition• photosynthesis and biomass accumulation

Impact of soil mosture

Eveness of weed emergenceEfficacy of soil active herbicides

Daily precipitations beforethe application of PRE herbicides

(May 1st - May 15th, 2010)

sowing date 12.5. 2010

appl

icat

ion

12.5

.201

0rainfall period

2010 – plots after pre-emergenceapplication of acetochlor + terbuthylazine

tillage with plough no till - mulch

good effect of pre-emergence herbicides in 2010

Daily precipitations beforethe application of PRE herbicides

(April 15th - May 15th, 2011)

sowing date 28.4.2011

appl

icat

ion

date

28.4

.

dry period

2011 – plots after pre-emergenceapplication of acetochlor + terbuthylazine

tillage with plough reduced tillage

failure of pre-emergence herbicides in 2011

Weed competition in maize(yield reduction ~ 30-70%)

untreated plot

time scale (maize growth stage)0

20

40

60

80

100

weeds occurr until ... weeds occurr from ...

critical period

rela

tive

yiel

d[%

]Critical period in maize-weeds competition

„period for exclusion of weed competition“

4 . – 8. maize leaves

Most popular herbicides in CZ

Pre-emergenceacetochlor + terbuthyazineterbuthyazine + S-metolachlorisoxaflutole

Increasing requirementson safety of plant protection products...

Result of Review Programmeof existing pesticides, 2001-2009

Regulation 1107/2009 EC on placing on the market of plant protection products 2009/128 Directive 2009/128 EC on the sustainable use of pesticides

Most popular herbicides in CZPost-emergence

terbuthylazine + S-metolachlornicosulfuronrimsulfuron + dicambaforamsulfuron + iodosulfuronmesotrione, tembotrioneterbuthyazine + S-metolachlor + mesotrioneisoxaflutole + thiencarbazone

Do we need Roundup Ready?

RR allows application flexibility accordingweed pressure – important premise of IWM,eliminates crop injuries (phytotoxicity),provides efficient and cheap solutions againstgrasses – both annual and perennial, enriches number of herbicide modes of actionused in maize,exhibits a very good environmental profile.

RR - no problem with crop injury2,4 D

rimsulfuron

bromoxynil

Slight crop injury (phytotoxicity) 5-15% is very common for many post-emergence herbicides

Use of herbicides in conservation tillage(no-till, mulch)

Roundup Ready Conventional pre-em

Five years experince withRoundup Ready technology in maize

3 years small plot experiments (2007-2009)sensitivity of individual weed speciesimpact on composition of weed communityefficacy and selectivity of various herbicide treatmens in RR system

2 years large plot experiment (2010-2011)efficacy of various herbicide treatmentsperformance of RR in various soil tillage systemsimpact of technology on NTOs

Differences in sensitivityto glyphosate in different weed species

Amaranthus retroflexus Echinochloa crus-galli

dose

resp

onse

0

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dose

resp

onse

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Different species sensitivity (WAT4)Weed Picture Curv ED50 ED90 ED90 / ED50

ratio

AMARE 197.1 411.9 2.1

SOLPS 265.4 475.0 1.8

CHEAL 363.6 677.1 1.9

MERAN 249.1 685.4 2.8

ECHCG 361.7 1334.6 3.7

ECHCG

AMARE

Summary – species sensitivityto glyphosate

High differences in sensitivity to glyphosate between tested species were foundAMARE, SOLPS – very sensitive (ED90 ≅ 400 - 500 g ha-1)CHEAL, MERAN – medium sens. (ED90 ≅ 700 g ha-1)ECHCG, POLLA – low sensitivity (ED90 ≅ 1300 g ha-1)Regeneration occured when ED90 / ED50 > 2.8 (in ECHCG, MERAN)Intended registered rate (2+2 or 3+3 lt/ha) of Roundupis sufficient for control of all tested annual speciesThe herbicide dose should be chosen according the most tolerant species to avoid the weed shift

Large-plot field trial3 soil tillage systems

plough + conventional seedbed preparationreduced tillage in autumn + conv. seedbedreduced tillage in autumn + seeding in mulch

5 herbicide treatmentspre-emergence: acetochlor + terbuthylazinepost-emergence: foramsulfuron + iodosulfuronRR1: acetochlor (pre) + Roundup (post)RR2: split Roundup (epost) + Roudup (post)RR3: Roundup + acetochlor (epost)

Trial design

Sowing

Application of herbicides

Some results from 2010

1 year data!

acetochlor (pre) + Roundup

Roundup 2x (split)

Roundup Ready + acetochlor(EPOST)

Harder control in mulch / reduced

Herbicide efficacy on AMARE

86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100

acetochlor + terbuthylazinec(PRE)

foramsulfuron + iodosulfuron (POST)

acetochlor (PRE) + Roundup (POST)

Roundup (EPOST + POST)

Roundup + acetochlor (EPOST)

efficacy (%)mulch chisel plough

Herbicide efficacy on CHEAL

82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100

acetochlor + terbuthylazinec(PRE)

foramsulfuron + iodosulfuron (POST)

acetochlor (PRE) + Roundup (POST)

Roundup (EPOST + POST)

Roundup + acetochlor (EPOST)

efficacy (%)mulch chisel plough

Herbicide efficacy on ECHCG

80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100

acetochlor + terbuthylazine (PRE)

foramsulfuron + iodosulfuron (POST)

acetochlor (PRE) + Roundup (POST)

Roundup (EPOST + POST)

Roundup + acetochlor (EPOST)

efficacy (%)mulch chisel plough

Harvest...

Yield assessment(14% moisture)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

acetochlor + terbuthylazine (PRE)

foramsulfuron + iodosulfuron (POST)

acetochlor (PRE) + Roundup (POST)

Roundup (EPOST + POST)

Roundup + acetochlor (EPOST)

grain yield (t/ha)mulch chisel plough

Experience with NK603 maizesome conclusins

All RR treatments (split; with acetochlor) showed comparable or better weed control effects than conventional herbicidesStable affect through the yearsNo problems with herbicide selectivity were observed Better control of perennial weeds and grassesSecond weed flush was not a serious problemBetter reliability in soil conservation tillage systems

Welcome to our trial!

60 mm rain last week ...