Overlapping residual herbicides for control of photosystem (PS) II- and 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-inhibitor-resistant palmer amaranth (amaranthus palmeri S. Watson) in glyphosate-resistant maize

Abstract

A Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Watson) biotype has evolved resistance to photosystem (PS) II- (atrazine) and 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD)-inhibiting herbicides (mesotrione, tembotrione, and topramezone) in maize seed production field in Nebraska, USA. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of soil residual pre-emergence (PRE) herbicides followed by (fb) tank-mixture of residual and foliar active post-emergence (POST) herbicides on PS-II- and HPPD-inhibitor-resistant Palmer amaranth control, maize yield, and net economic returns. Field experiments were conducted in a grower’s field infested with PS II- and HPPD-inhibitor-resistant Palmer amaranth near Shickley in Fillmore County, Nebraska, USA in 2015 and 2016. The contrast analysis suggested that saflufenacil plus dimethenamid-P or pyroxasulfone plus saflufenacil applied PRE provided 80–82% Palmer amaranth control compared to 65 and 39% control with saflufenacil and pyroxasulfone applied alone at 3 weeks after PRE (WAPRE), respectively. Among the PRE fb POST herbicide programs, 95–98% Palmer amaranth control was achieved with pyroxasulfone plus safluefenacil, or saflufenacil plus dimethenamid-P applied PRE, fb glyphosate plus topramezone plus dimethenamid-P plus atrazine, glyphosate plus diflufenzopyr plus dicamba plus pyroxasulfone, glyphosate plus diflufenzopyr plus pendimethalin, or glyphosate plus diflufenzopyr plus dicamba plus atrazine applied POST at 3 weeks after POST (WAPOST) through maize harvest. Based on contrast analysis, PRE fb POST programs provided 77–83% Palmer amaranth control at 3 WAPOST through maize harvest compared to 12–15% control with PRE-only and 66–84% control with POST-only programs. Similarly, PRE fb POST programs provided 99% biomass reduction at 6 WAPOST compared to PRE-only (28%) and POST-only (87%) programs. PRE fb POST programs provided higher maize yield (13,617kg ha−1) and net return (US $1,724 ha−1) compared to the PRE-only (2,656kg ha−1; US $285 ha−1) and POST-only (11,429kg ha−1; US $1,539 ha−1) programs. The results indicated that effective control of multiple herbicide-resistant Palmer amaranth can be achieved with PRE fb POST programs that include herbicides with overlapping residual activity to maintain season-long control.