Response of wheat cultivars to early post-emergence herbicides containing MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid)

Abstract

In southern New South Wales in 1978 and 1979, the responses of 10 spring wheat cultivars to early post-emergence applications of MCPA, bromoxynil plus MCPA, and dicamba plus MCPA, were evaluated. The herbicides were applied at the rate recommended by their manufacturer (1x), and at 3 times this rate (3x). Cultivars differed in their responses to these treatments and herbicide tolerance was related to the stage of development of the apical meristem of the main tiller at the time of spraying. Olympic, Shortim and Egret were the most sensitive cultivars and their grain yield, averaged over rate and year, was reduced by 33, 19, and 15% respectively. Songlen, Jabiru and Durati were the most tolerant cultivars. Songlen was not affected by any herbicide, even when the 3x rates were used, while the grain yields of Jabiru and Durati were only reduced in 1 year, and then only by the 3x rate of dicamba plus MCPA. The remaining cultivars, Kite, Gamenya, Condor and Lance, were intermediate in their response to these herbicide treatments. Delaying the application of 1 of these herbicides, dicamba plus MCPA, until spikelet initiation, minimised yield reductions. Correlations between visual assessment of crop damage and grain yield reduction varied between cultivars and between herbicides.