Influence of the sowing depth and amount of sugarcane straw on the emergence of Chloris polydactyla and Eleusine indica and their control by herbicides applied pre-emergence

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the sowing depth and amount of sugarcane straw on the soil on the emergence of Chloris polydactyla (‘capim-branco’) and Eleusine indica (Indian goosegrass) and to determine the efficacy of herbicides applied pre-emergence in the control of these species under different straw amount and rainfall regime conditions. The experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. In the first experiment, the effects of six sowing depths (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 10 cm) and six sugarcane straw amounts (0, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 t ha -1) were assessed on the emergence of Indian goosegrass and ‘capim-branco’ in a 6 x 6 factorial arrangement. In the second experiment, the efficacy in the control of these species was evaluated for one control without herbicide and five treatments (indaziflam, metribuzin, tebuthiuron, indaziflam + metribuzin, and indaziflam + tebuthiuron) applied pre-emergence over four straw amounts (0, 1, 2, and 4 t ha-1) in a 6 x 4 factorial arrangement. This experiment was evaluated under two rainfall regimes in separate experiments (simulation of 20 mm of rainfall 1 or 10 days after herbicide application). The ‘capim-branco’ showed a marked reduction in emergence beginning at 2 t ha-1 of straw and a 2 cm sowing depth. For the Indian goosegrass, the decline in emergence mainly occurred beginning at 4 t ha-1 of straw and a 4 cm sowing depth. Only some of the Indian goosegrass plants emerged at the greater sowing depths (8 and 10 cm) and straw amounts (8 and 10 t ha-1), whereas no emergence of the ‘capim-branco’ was observed under these conditions. The treatments with sowing at a 1 cm depth and with 0, 1, 2, and 4 t ha-1 of straw provided the highest emergence percentage for the species. Application of the herbicide indaziflam alone was the only ineffective treatment for the control of the weeds regardless of the amount of straw and the water regime used. We concluded that the increase in the sowing depth and the amount of straw significantly reduced the emergence of the species and that the presence of straw and the dry period interfered with the herbicide efficacy.