Dicamba, a new tool in growers’ weed management toolbox, will improve control of certain weed species. But it won’t revive the days of a post-emergence-only weed control program. Those days are history, and from them, growers have learned an important lesson: Misusing technology will result in an early expiration date.
To prolong the efficacy of existing herbicides like dicamba for future generations of growers, keep these resistance management principles in mind:
- Do not rely solely on post-emergence herbicides.
- Start clean, utilizing tillage or an effective burndown, plus a pre-emergence residual herbicide application.
- Apply full rates of pre-emergence herbicides with recommended adjuvants.
- Use multiple effective modes of action with efficacy on target weeds.
- Avoid allowing weeds to go to seed.
- Use diversified management programs, incorporating mechanical weed control and crop rotation.
- Remove any escapes early: Hand weed, spray or cut out patches.
- Utilize good agronomic practices: narrow rows, increased plant populations, and other practices that promote crop growth and competitive ability.
- Clean tillage, seeding and harvest equipment when leaving fields that are infested with herbicide-resistant weeds.
- Use a two-pass pre- and post-emergence system, incorporating the principles above.
Weed resistance to existing and new herbicides is just a matter of time, but growers have the power to decide when that will happen in their fields. Growers can boost their weed resistance management knowledge by taking Syngenta’s Resistance Fighter Weed IQ Quiz.
Source: Syngenta