The herbicides used in ClearfieldTM rice technology are persistent and mobile in soil, and thus, management practices can affect its dynamics. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of three different rice irrigation managements on leaching of the formulated mixture of the herbicides imazethapyr and imazapic in lowland soil. This study consisted of a field experiment followed by bioassay. The bioassay was conducted in a greenhouse of the Department of Biology of the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria in 2009. Soil samples were collected from a field experiment submitted to different rice irrigation managements. These samples were sliced at 5 cm intervals up to 30 cm in depth. The treatments included three irrigation managements: continuous flooding, intermittent flooding and flush (factor A) and soil depth of 5 cm intervals, from 0 to 30 cm (factor B). The bioassay compared the growth of non-tolerant rice plants grown in soil subjected to the treatments described above, with the plants grown in soil with a known amount of herbicides. Irrigation promotes vertical movement of the herbicide, but the difference between irrigation management is only observed in the topsoil (0-5 cm), with flush being the treatment with the lower amounts of herbicide at this depth. The herbicide is concentrated at 5-20 cm depth, 134 days after the product is applied in lowland soil.
bioassay; intermittent irrigation; injury; plant height
