Persistence and leaching of sulfonylurea herbicides over a 4-year period in the highly alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia
K. L. Hollaway A D , R. S. Kookana B , D. M. Noy A , J. G. Smith A and N. Wilhelm CA Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 260, Horsham, Vic. 3401, Australia.
B CSIRO Land and Water, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
C South Australian Research and Development Institute, Plant Research Centre, GPO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: katherine.hollaway@dpi.vic.gov.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46(8) 1069-1076 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04221
Submitted: 26 October 2004 Accepted: 26 July 2005 Published: 5 July 2006
Abstract
The sulfonylurea herbicides are commonly used in the cereal belt of south-eastern Australia and there is concern that their persistence in alkaline soils is long enough to damage subsequent rotational crops such as legumes and oilseeds. In this study, we investigated leaching and persistence of 3 commonly used herbicides (chlorsulfuron, triasulfuron and metsulfuron-methyl) in alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia (pH range 7.4–8.6) for at least 4 years after treatment. In general, chlorsulfuron was predicted to persist for 3–5 years [time to degrade to 1% (DT99) of 33–63 months after treatment depending on the field site], triasulfuron for 1–3 years (DT99 of 13–37 months after treatment), and metsulfuron-methyl for less than 1 year (although data were insufficient for degradation estimates) after its application. However, this varied between sites and years of application. Although, the majority of residues remained in the top 20 cm of the soil profile throughout the study, leaching of a small fraction of the residue to deeper layers of the profiles (up to 1 m) was observed. Despite their slow rate of degradation, the herbicides did eventually dissipate, even in soils with very high pH (8.5). In most cases, the current product labels provide an adequate safety period to protect sensitive rotational crops from potential damage due to excessive persistence. However, in particular years at 3 of the 5 field sites, metsulfuron-methyl and triasulfuron persisted beyond the recommended recropping period (9 months for metsulfuron-methyl and 22 months for triasulfuron in soils up to pH 7.5 or 24 months in soils pH 7.6 and above). An accurate measurement of soil pH and its variability within the paddock is essential to minimise any subsequent crop damage by these herbicides.
Additional keywords: chlorsulfuron, degradation, metsulfuron-methyl, rainfall, soil pH, triasulfuron.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Russel Argall, Terry Bertozzi, Michael Kalms, Maree Kerr, Michael Moerkerk, Noel Pederson, Roger Perris, David Puls, Shaun Seigert and Gene Tagliabue for their input into these trials, DuPont and Novartis for ELISA analysis, and Ray Flood for advice on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (DAS230).
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