Stocktake Sale on now: wide range of books at up to 70% off!
Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > EA04223
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(5)

Persistence and leaching of imazethapyr and flumetsulam herbicides over a 4-year period in the highly alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia

K. L. Hollaway A D , R. S. Kookana B , D. M. Noy A , J. G. Smith A and N. Wilhelm C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Primary Industries, Private Bag 260, Horsham, Vic. 3401, Australia.

B CSIRO Land and Water, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.

C South Australian Research and Development Institute, Plant Research Centre, GPO Box 397, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: katherine.hollaway@dpi.vic.gov.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46(5) 669-674 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04223
Submitted: 26 October 2004  Accepted: 13 September 2005   Published: 12 May 2006

Abstract

Imazethapyr and flumetsulam are acetolactate synthase herbicides commonly used in the cereal belt of south-eastern Australia. As their labels recommend recropping periods of up to 34 months for imazethapyr and 24 months for flumetsulam, there are concerns that in some cases their persistence may damage subsequent rotation crops. This is the first major study in south-eastern Australia to investigate their leaching and persistence for up to 4 years after treatment. Imazethapyr persisted for more than 3 years at 2 sites and flumetsulam for more than 2 years at 3 sites. For imazethapyr, soil type (clay content) rather than soil pH seemed to be most important in determining persistence, with residues of 10% of applied imazethapyr predicted to persist for 24 months after treatment in clay soil and 5 months after treatment in sandy soil. The potential for leaching below our studied soil depth of 40 cm is of concern for imazethapyr but not for flumetsulam. The current labels appear to provide adequate information for safe recropping periods, but may be conservative for imazethapyr in sandy soils.

Additional keywords: ALS herbicide, degradation, imidazolinone, rainfall, soil pH, sulfonanilide.


Acknowledgments

Thanks to Russel Argall, Terry Bertozzi, Michael Kalms, Maree Kerr, Michael Moerkerk, Noel Pederson, Roger Perris, David Puls, Shaun Seigert and Gene Tagliabue for their input into these trials and to Ray Flood for advice on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (DAS230).


References


Battaglin WA, Furlong ET, Burkhardt MR, Peter CJ (2000) Occurrence of sulfonylurea, sulfonamide, imidazolinone, and other herbicides in rivers, reservoirs and ground water in the Midwestern United States, 1998. Science of the Total Environment 248, 123–133.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | open url image1

Cantwell JR, Liebl RA, Slife FW (1989) Biodegradation characteristics of imazaquin and imazethapyr. Weed Science 37, 815–819. open url image1

Goetz AJ, Lavy TL, Gbur EE (1990) Degradation and field persistence of imazethapyr. Weed Science 38, 421–428. open url image1

Hollaway KL, Kookana RS, Noy DM, Smith JG, Wilhelm N (2006) Persistence and leaching of sulfonylurea herbicides over a 4-year period in the highly alkaline soils of south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture In press 46, open url image1

Lehmann RG, Miller JR, Fontaine DD, Laskowski DA, Hunter JH, Cordes RC (1992) Degradation of a sulfonamide herbicide as a function of soil sorption. Weed Research 32, 197–205. open url image1

McDowell RW, Condron LM, Main BE, Dastgheib F (1997) Dissipation of imazapyr, flumetsulam and thifensulfuron in soil. Weed Research 37, 381–389.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Mangels G (1991) Behaviour of the imidazolinone herbicides in soil – a review of the literature. In ‘The imidazolinone herbicides’. (Eds DL Shaner, SL O’Connor) pp. 191–209. (CRC Press: Boca Raton)

Murphy GP, Shaw DR (1997) Field mobility of flumetsulam in three Mississippi soils. Weed Science 45, 564–567. open url image1

O’Dell JD, Wolt JD, Jardine PM (1992) Transport of imazethapyr in undisturbed soil columns. Soil Science Society of America Journal 56, 1711–1715. open url image1

O’Sullivan J, Thomas RJ, Bouw WJ (1998) Effect of imazethapyr and imazamox soil residues on several vegetable crops grown in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 78, 647–651. open url image1

Shaw DR, Murphy GP (1997) Adsorption and relative mobility of flumetsulam. Weed Science 45, 573–578. open url image1

Stork P, Hannah MC (1996) A bioassay method for formulation testing and residue studies of sulfonylurea and sulfonanylide herbicides. Weed Research 36, 271–281. open url image1

Streibig JC (1988) Herbicide bioassay. Weed Research 28, 479–484. open url image1

Tingle CH, Shaw DR, Gerard PD (1999) Flumetsulam mobility in two Mississippi soils as influenced by irrigation timing. Weed Science 47, 349–352. open url image1