Wild Mustard (Brassica kaber) Resistance to Ethametsulfuron But Not to Other Herbicides

Abstract

In 1993, a wild mustard population growing in a canola crop near Wetaskiwin, AB was poorly controlled by ethametsulfuron after only one previous use of the herbicide. Controlled environment experiments were conducted to compare the response of this suspected resistant population (R) with that of a known susceptible population (S) collected near Vegreville, AB to increasing rates of ethametsulfuron, metsulfuron, chlorsulfuron, thifensulfuron, HOE 075032, imazamethabenz, imazethapyr, metribuzin, and 2,4-D. The R wild mustard population was highly resistant to ethametsulfuron, slightly resistant to low rates of metsulfuron but not resistant to any of the other herbicides tested. This suggests that the mechanism of resistance may differ from that reported for other sulfonylurea and imidazolinone herbicides. Since resistance was documented after only 2 yr of ethametsulfuron use, the initial frequency of resistance to this herbicide in wild mustard populations may be very high. Dry weight of untreated plants did not differ significantly between the S and R populations suggesting little or no differences in competitiveness between them.