Glyphosate is a wide spectrum herbicide used for over 15 years in apple orchards in Vacaria-RS for weed control in rows of trees. Usually, 3 to 4 applications per year are made at a rate of 720 to 1080 g a.e. glyphosate ha-1 (2 to 3 L ha-1 of commercial product). Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) is a common weed in orchards and traditionally sensitive to glyphosate. However, in the last years, some ryegrass plants have not been found to show significant toxicity symptoms after treatment with glyphosate, suggesting that they acquired resistance to this product. To evaluate the response of a ryegrass plant population to glyphosate, one field and two greenhouse experiments were carried out. The field experiment treatments had increasing rates of glyphosate (0; 360; 720; 1,440; 2,880; 5,760 and 11,520 g a.e. ha-1), in addition to the herbicides paraquat, glufosinate-ammonium, haloxyfop and diclofop-methyl as standards, sprayed at two different vegetative growth stages of ryegrass. The greenhouse experiments had increasing rates of glyphosate (0; 360; 720; 1,440; 2,880 and 5,760 g a.e. 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, glyphosate rates (720; 1,440; 2,880; 720 + 720 and 720 + 1,440 g a.e. ha-1) were sprayed in single and sequential applications, in addition to the herbicides paraquat, glufosinate-ammonium, haloxyfop, clethodim, sethoxydim, diclofop-methyl, fenoxaprop, fluazifop, paraquat + diuron, atrazine + simazine, trifluralin, and metolachlor. Toxicicity to the herbicides was assessed at 15, 30 and 45 DAT (days after treatment). Overall, the field and greenhouse experiment results showed that the susceptible biotype is easily controlled by glyphosate and by the other postemergence herbicides tested, independent of the vegetative growth stage. In addition, the results showed that the resistant biotype, similarly to the susceptible biotype, is highly sensitive to herbicides with mode of action differing from that of glyphosate. However, the resistant biotype presents low response to glyphosate, even if used in high rates, showing that some biotypes acquired resistance to this product.
resistance; EPSP synthase-inhibitors; fruitculture
