Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide used for over 20 years to control weeds in Rio Grande do Sul. Horseweed (Conyza bonariensis) is a common weed in Rio Grande do Sul and traditionally sensitive to glyphosate. However, during the last years, some horseweed plants have not shown significant injury symptoms after treatment with glyphosate, suggesting that they are resistant to this herbicide. Aiming to evaluate the response of a population of horseweed plants to glyphosate, one field and two greenhouse experiments were carried out. The field experiment treatment had increasing rates of glyphosate (0, 360, 720, 1,440, 2,880 and 5,760 g ha-1), and also the herbicides paraquat and 2,4-D as standards. The greenhouse experiments had increasing rates of glyphosate (0, 360, 720, 1,440, 2,880 and 5,760 g ha-1) plus the above listed check herbicides sprayed on biotypes considered resistant and on plants of one susceptible biotype. In the second greenhouse experiment, the treatments were increasing rates of glyphosate (720, 1,440 and 2,880 g ha-1) and herbicides chlorimuron-ethyl, metsulfuron-methyl, 2,4-D, paraquat and diuron + paraquat sprayed on plants of resistant and susceptible biotypes. Horseweed control was accessed at 7, 15 and 30 DAT (days after treatment). Overall results of the field and greenhouse experiments provided evidence that the susceptible biotype is easily controlled by glyphosate and the other tested herbicides. In addition, the results demonstrated that the resistant biotype, as the susceptible biotype, is highly sensitive to herbicides with mode of action that differs from glyphosate. However, the resistant biotype showed low response to glyphosate, even at very high rates, confirming resistance of this horseweed population to glyphosate.
herbicide resistance; EPSP inhibitors
