Results on the Efficiency of Herbicides in Weed Control in Maize Crop

Mihaela Cergan¹, Gheorghe Măturaru¹, Elena Partal¹, Marius Bordei¹,
Florin Gabriel Anton¹, Sorin Iordache²

¹National Agricultural Research and Development Institute Fundulea
²University Politehnica of Bucharest

Keywords: maize, weed control, herbicide, selectivity.

Abstract: Romania is one of the largest producers of maize (Zea mays) in the European Union, a plant that can prove very profitable if certain requirements related to the cultivation and care of the crop are met. It has a production capacity approximately 50% higher than other cereals control. Integrated weed management is a system of integrated measures to maintain the level of weed infestation of crops below the damage threshold. A study was conducted at NARDI Fundulea to evaluate the efficiency of herbicides in controlling both monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weeds.
In the pedoclimatic conditions specific to the area at NARDI Fundulea, the maize crop presents a high infestation (65-75%), a spectrum of characteristic weeds and a dominance specific to the area. In the maize crop, the characteristic and most representative weed species were: monocotyledons - Setaria viridis, Echinochloa crus-galli, Sorghum halepense; annual and perennial dicotyledons - Amaranthus retroflexus, Solanum nigrum, Chenopodium album and Cirsium arvenses. Results showed that selective herbicides effectively controlled the dominant weeds without damaging the maize crop. The research focused on weed identification, crop selectivity, and controlling the weed species present by applying herbicide treatments without negative impact on the environment. Herbicide treatments must be correlated with the degree of weed infestation, the spectrum and dominance of the weeds, the timing of application, the technical potential for effectiveness and the local climatic conditions at Fundulea.