A field trial was carried out in Olímpia, São Paulo, Brazil, to evaluate the effects of different periods of weed control on sugarcane yield. In the year before, the field was a Brachiaria decumbens pasture and, for this reason, this grass was the major population in the weed community. Sugarcane was planted on May 1995, at the beginning of the dry season. Despite this constraint, dry matter accumulation in B. decumbens population increased during the whole evaluated period. Thus, its interference in sugarcane plants was very strong, leading to an 82% reduction in the crop yield. Sugarcane plants could grow along with the weed community up to 89 days, without significant productivity reduction. A minimal weed control period of 138 days was required to assure maximum sugarcane productivity. The critical period for weed control was between 89 and 138 days, after planting.
Saccharum spp.; weed; competition
