Differential Response of Fall Panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorum) Populations in Florida Sugarcane to Asulam

Abstract

AbstractSugarcane growers in Florida have been reporting reduced control of fall panicum with asulam, the main herbicide used for POST grass control. Therefore, outside container experiments were conducted to determine the response of four fall panicum populations from Florida to asulam applied alone and to evaluate whether tank-mix combination with trifloxysulfuron enhances control. Asulam was applied at 230 to 7,400 g ai ha−1, corresponding to 1/16 to 2X the maximum labeled rate for a single application in sugarcane, with or without combination with trifloxysulfuron at 16 g ai ha−1. Three fall panicum populations were collected from fields in which reduced control had been reported, while one population was from a field not used for sugarcane production but adjacent to a sugarcane field. The potency of asulam based on ED50values (the rate required to cause 50% dry weight reduction at 28 d after treatment) ranged from 2,249 to 5,412 g ha−1for tolerant populations with reported reduced fall panicum control compared with 1,808 g ha−1for the susceptible population from the field not used for sugarcane production, showing that the latter was most sensitive to asulam. Addition of trifloxysulfuron to asulam increased potency on fall panicum by 5- to 15-fold, indicating that the tank mix enhanced dry weight reduction for all populations. The probability of fall panicum survival (regrowth after aboveground biomass harvesting) at the labeled rate of asulam ranged from 2% to 47% compared with 0% to 6% when trifloxysulfuron was added to the tank mix. Our results show differential response of fall panicum populations in Florida to asulam, which can be overcome by tank mixing with trifloxysulfuron even for populations that are difficult to control in sugarcane, but no evolution of resistance to asulam.