Herbicides may provide different levels of weed control, as a function of species present in the area, growth stage, product rate and application and environmental conditions. The objectives of this study were to investigate the possibility of using a reduced rate of the grass herbicide clethodim, applied in postemergence, for Alexandergrass control in soybean and to quantify the influence of application time of chemical control on agronomic traits of the crop. The experiment was set up at EEA/UFRGS, in Eldorado do Sul, RS, during the 2005/2006 growing season. The soybean cultivar tested was Fepagro-RS 10, seeded at row spacing of 0.25 cm. The factors and treatments compared were: clethodim rates (96 and 60 g ha-1) and herbicide application times (from 3 to 39 days after soybean emergence). Check plots with and without Alexandergrass infestation were included using soybean row spacing widths of 0.25 and 0.50 cm. Variables related to soybean yield and other agronomic characteristics of the crop were evaluated. It is viable to reduce the herbicide clethodim rate in 38% for Alexandergrass control. Without Alexandergrass, control soybean row spacing reduction from 0.50 to 0.25 cm increases the competitive capacity of the crop and grain yield as well, a difference not observed under weed control. A single application of clethodim, either at the label rate or at a reduced rate, between soybean V1 and V6 growth stages, maintains complete Alexandergrass control, even when the grass plants present nine tillers, without affecting crop grain yield.
weeds; Alexandergrass interference; reduced herbicide rate; crop row spacing
