Glyphosate as a Tool for the Incorporation of New Herbicide Options in Integrated Weed Management in Maize: A Weed Dynamics Evaluation

Abstract

A farm-scale investigation was conducted to evaluate the potential impact of integrating glyphosate into different weed management programs when cultivating herbicide-tolerant maize in central Spain from 2012 to 2014. The weed management programs were (1) a conventional weed management with pre- and post-emergent herbicide applications, (2) a weed management program in which the number and total amount of conventional herbicides applied were reduced, and (3) three weed management programs that comprised either two post-emergent applications of the herbicide glyphosate, or only one glyphosate application combined with pre- and/or post-emergent herbicides. Weed density throughout each cropping season was greater in those weed management programs that did not include a pre-emergence application of herbicides than those that did. Moreover, none of the weed management programs affected the richness and species diversity of the weeds or reduced yields. Although the impact of the different programs was similar in terms of weed species diversity, the composition of the weed community differed and this effect must be considered when providing agroecosystem services. Our results indicate that glyphosate-tolerant maize provides an additional tool that allows integrated weed control of the weed populations without reducing yields.