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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Persistence and leaching of imazethapyr and flumetsulam 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 C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A 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(5) 669-674 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04223
Submitted: 26 October 2004  Accepted: 13 September 2005   Published: 12 May 2006

Abstract

Imazethapyr and flumetsulam are acetolactate synthase herbicides commonly used in the cereal belt of south-eastern Australia. As their labels recommend recropping periods of up to 34 months for imazethapyr and 24 months for flumetsulam, there are concerns that in some cases their persistence may damage subsequent rotation crops. This is the first major study in south-eastern Australia to investigate their leaching and persistence for up to 4 years after treatment. Imazethapyr persisted for more than 3 years at 2 sites and flumetsulam for more than 2 years at 3 sites. For imazethapyr, soil type (clay content) rather than soil pH seemed to be most important in determining persistence, with residues of 10% of applied imazethapyr predicted to persist for 24 months after treatment in clay soil and 5 months after treatment in sandy soil. The potential for leaching below our studied soil depth of 40 cm is of concern for imazethapyr but not for flumetsulam. The current labels appear to provide adequate information for safe recropping periods, but may be conservative for imazethapyr in sandy soils.

Additional keywords: ALS herbicide, degradation, imidazolinone, rainfall, soil pH, sulfonanilide.


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 and to Ray Flood for advice on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (DAS230).


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