Better strategy for Argentina to control resistant weeds

Agrochemist Juan Caporicci, FMC Herbicide Manager, stressed that it is key for producers to implement a strategy that is appropriate for current agricultural conditions based on cultural practices and chemical control, which will enable them to control resistant weeds and define a planting season appropriate for their regions.

 

Finding the balance between planting date and weed management is one of the major current challenges facing farmers. "Due to the special climatic conditions in the various regions of Argentina, producers have to decide when to plant, but they have not conducted the necessary chemical treatments, so weeds often govern the time of planting," explained Caporicci, adding, "We must find the best strategy to define the best moment for sowing, which requires the combination of science and culture.”

 

This situation has become more complex as the resistance of species grows in different areas of Argentina. The Aapresid REM published a survey that highlighted the fact that resistant weeds already occupy the same area as extensive crops around the country, with little progress being made in recent years. For example, Yuyo colorado (Amaranthus) remains the most abundant, affecting 20.5 million hectares, which increased by 7 million hectares in the lat two years. Chicken leg went to second place, with 9 million hectares and a growth in this period of 4 million hectares. The Chlorideas are located almost on the same surface, but their growth was less than one million hectares. Cockspur grass is located in just over 8 million hectares and grew 3.7 million hectares in these 2 years. According to Caporicci's view, the main problem is that “now Amaranthus resistant are combined with resistant grasses in almost 80% of the lots, which considerably increases the investment per hectare that the producers must make to control this problem”.

 

Another point from Caporicci is to monitor the weather. “Today everyone is sowing or thinking about sowing, because it is always the most important decision, but it is possible that they have not done anything from the point of view of chemical control because, as the rains are delayed, we are not seeing the birth of weeds in the field lots. But the case of weeds is not like that of diseases, which must wait for a threshold of damage to define application. In weeds, if it appeared in the previous campaign, unfortunately the weed is in the seed bank and sooner or later it will appear. And here it is very important the time it takes to control these problem species. ”

 

Beyond the chemical control, Caporicci recalled that producers have other management tools to cope with resistance such as crop rotation, rotation of the active ingredients of herbicides used and service crops or winter crops. In relation to the latter, this cycle recommended being vigilant and actively monitoring them, because in the absence of water they may have lost effectiveness in weed control. “In general it is a very good tool because they compete for space, water and nutrients and do not let weeds grow, but this campaign with less rainfall than normal, may not have the necessary development to compete efficiently against weeds as they normally do. Maybe we should dry them in advance and dehydrate them, either with chemicals like Shark from FMC or mechanical with rollers. ”
 

 

Regarding the control of resistant weeds, FMC has a family of solutions to deal with the Capaz herbicide line (Sulfentrazone). “Many times the weed governs the planting decision. We must match the culture of the producer with the dynamics of weeds and here is the greatest contribution of pre-emergent herbicide. For the cultivation of soybean FMC has several alternatives, Capable, Capable Elite and Capable MTZ. The craft of arming the strategy regarding the use of herbicides is in the determination of the sowing date and the planning of the chemical tool, articulating lacks, residualities, herbicide selectivity and weed dynamics, this is what makes exciting to today's agriculture ”. On the Capable line, Caporicci recalled that FMC has been making a point in the strategy of offering more than one herbicide tool with two effective modes of action to control Amaranthus spp (one of the biggest problems). “The company is a pioneer in this topic of combination of active ingredients. Because from the chemical industry we also have the commitment and be proactive to prevent and delay the emergence of resistance. ”