The Echinochloa species are among the most important weeds in flooded rice fields of Rio Grande do Sul, causing economic losses to the culture, due to its high competivity for environmental resources. The objective of this study was to compare the relative competitive abilities between two rice cultivars and an Echinochloa spp. biotype. Greenhouse experiments were conducted in 2006/07 growing season utilizing a completely randomized design with four replications. The treatments were arranged in a replacement series experiment by establishing five proportions of rice plants and competitor (100:0; 75:25; 50:50; 25:75 and 0:100), maintaining a constant population of 24 plants per pot. Rice cultivars were IRGA 417 or BR-IRGA 410, and the competitor was an Echinochloa spp. biotype. Competitive analysis was accomplished through diagrams usually applied to replacement series studies and indexes of relative competivity. The plant variables evaluated were: leaf area and shoot dry weight. There was competition between the IRGA 417or BR-IRGA 410 cultivars and the Echinochloa spp., independently of the proportion of the plants, with the competitors presenting reduced leaf area and shoot dry matter weight. Echinochloa spp. presents smaller relative productivity loss, reduces the morphological rice variables, and shows to be more competitive than the rice cultivars.
Oryza sativa; interference; competition; weeds; morphophysiological characteristics
