Naked oat response to soil type and herbicides applied at two growing stages

Abstract

Naked oat (Avena sativa L.) harvested in the province of Quebec, Canada, develops on average 10% covered grains and sometimes more. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of soil type, herbicides and their application stages on the proportion of covered grains in naked oat genotypes. Three genotypes were evaluated over 2 yr at two experimental sites. At each site, trials were seeded on two different soil types and each entry was treated with one of three types of herbicides: bromoxynil/MCPA, dicamba/MCPA and thifensulfuron methyl/tribenuron methyl, and compared with a weed-free check. The herbicides were applied at Zadoks 12-13 and 22-23. Results showed that dicamba/MCPA herbicide, applied at Zadoks 12-13, increased covered grains compared with the weed-free check and more covered grains were produced with the application made at Zadoks 22-23. However, differences in genotype reactions were observed. Few differences were found among the other weed control treatments. The application of dicamba/MCPA at Zadoks 22-23 decreased yield and test weight, but increased kernel weight. The other weed control treatments had no effect on agronomic characteristics.Key words: Avena sativa, herbicide, dicamba/MCPA, soil type, covered grains