Our top 10 herbicide‐resistant weed management practices

Although proactive or reactive herbicide‐resistant weed management (HRWM) practices have been recommended to growers in different agroecoregions globally, there is a need to identify and prioritise those having the most impact in mitigating or managing herbicide selection pressure in the northern Great Plains of North America. Our perspective on this issue is based on collaborative research, extension activities and dialogue with growers or farming experience (cereal, oilseed and pulse crop production) during the past 30 years. We list our top 10 HRWM practices, concluding with the number 1 practice which is the foundation of the other nine practices: crop diversity. Although our top 10 HRWM practices have broad applicability across agroecoregions, their ranking may vary widely. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Competitive ability of ALS‐inhibitor herbicide‐resistant Fimbristylis miliacea

Fimbristylis miliacea, a weed in rice, has evolved resistance to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors. This study aimed to investigate the competitive abilities of ALS‐resistant (R) and ALS‐susceptible (S) F. miliacea with rice. A replacement series experiment was conducted in the glasshouse at the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil. The proportions of rice to F. miliacea were 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100, with 1060 plants m^?2. The experimental units were arranged in a completely randomised design with four replications. A follow‐up study was conducted at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA, in a split‐plot design with four replications. The main plot was species mixture (rice × R, rice × S, R × S). The subplot was competition partitioning (below‐ and above‐ground, below‐ground only, above‐ground only and no interspecific competition). Leaf area, plant height and shoot dry mass were recorded. Rice was more competitive than the R or S F. miliacea. In equal proportions of rice and F. miliacea, regardless of ecotype, the relative leaf area, height and dry mass of rice were greater than that of F. miliacea. The ALS‐resistant ecotype was less competitive with rice than the S ecotype. Intraspecific competition among rice plants was stronger than rice competition with F. miliacea. Competition for below‐ground resources was the most critical aspect of interference among rice and F. miliacea. In production fields, high infestation levels of F. miliacea results in significant yield losses; thus, resistance to ALS inhibitors needs to be curtailed.     

Penoxsulam‐resistant barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus‐galli) in rice fields in China

Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus‐galli) proliferation seriously threatens rice production worldwide. Whole‐plant bioassays were conducted in order to test the sensitivity to penoxsulam of 52 barnyardgrass populations and the resistance of six penoxsulam‐resistant populations to 12 other herbicides that are commonly used in rice fields. Among the 48 populations that had escaped penoxsulam control in the rice fields, 8.3% showed a very high level of resistance, 58.3% showed a high level of resistance and 10.4% showed a moderate level of resistance. Multiple resistance was confirmed in all six penoxsulam‐resistant populations that were tested further. They exhibited at least a moderate level of resistance; that is, to 6–10 of the total of 13 herbicides that was tested. Most of the six penoxsulam‐resistant populations showed at least a moderate level of resistance to bispyribac‐sodium, quinclorac, metamifop, cyhalofop‐butyl and oxadiazon, three populations held at least a moderate level of resistance to oxyfluorfen and pretilachlor, two populations also held at least a moderate level of resistance to pyrazosulfuron‐ethyl, pyribenzoxim and fenoxaprop‐P‐ethyl, but the resistance indices of the six populations to pendimethalin were all low. This study has confirmed resistance to pretilachlor and oxadiazon in weeds for the first time.     

Contamination of internationally traded wheat by herbicide‐resistant Lolium rigidum

As herbicide‐resistant weeds have spread in the agricultural fields of grain‐exporting countries, their seeds could be introduced into other countries as contaminants in imported grain. The spread of resistance genes through seed and pollen can cause significant economic loss. In order to assess the extent of the problem, we investigated the contamination by herbicide‐resistant annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) of wheat imported from Western Australia into Japan. Annual ryegrass seeds were recovered from wheat shipments and seed bioassays were conducted to identify resistance to the herbicides that are commonly used in Australia: diclofop‐methyl, sethoxydim, chlorsulfuron, and glyphosate. Nearly 4500 ryegrass seeds were detected in 20 kg of wheat that was imported in both 2006 and 2007. About 35% and 15% of the seeds were resistant to diclofop‐methyl, 5% and 6% were resistant to sethoxydim, and 56% and 60% were resistant to chlorsulfuron in 2006 and 2007, respectively. None was resistant to glyphosate in either year. As the contamination of crops by herbicide‐resistant weeds is probably a common phenomenon, the monitoring of incoming grain shipments is necessary to stem the further spread of herbicide‐resistant weeds into importing countries.     

Evaluation of six commonly used reference genes for gene expression studies in herbicide‐resistant Avena fatua biotypes

Avena fatua of the family Poaceae is one of the most common and economically damaging grass weeds. Resistance to herbicides that inhibit acetyl‐coenzyme A carboxylase and acetolactate synthase activities has recently been detected in A. fatua. The resistance may be due to mutations in the herbicide targets and/or enhanced herbicide metabolism resulting from changes in gene expression, including in genes involved in detoxifying herbicide active ingredients. To analyse gene expression, stable housekeeping genes must be experimentally determined and used for data normalisation. In this study, A. fatua plants were treated with different herbicide types and plant materials were harvested at three time points following treatment. Six candidate reference genes (18S rRNA, ACT, EF1α, GAPDH, TBP, and TUB) were selected, sequenced and analysed by RT‐qPCR. The resulting data were assessed using four algorithms from the RefFinder software to determine gene expression stability. We identified TBP and GAPDH as the most stably expressed A. fatua reference genes following herbicide treatment.     

Weed problems and their management in rice fields of Malaysia: An overview

The available literature on weed problems and weed control in rice fields in Malaysia is reviewed and suggestions for future research are included. The problem of weed competition with rice is of great economic importance in the country because it causes a 10–35% reduction in grain yield. About US$4.10 million is spent annually on herbicides for rice alone, and this amounts to approximately 7% of the total expenditure on herbicides. The shift in methods of rice culture from transplanting to direct seeding has magnified the weed problem. The problem of weedy rice is particularly acute in the direct-seeding rice areas. Although a number of sulfonylurea herbicides (e.g. cinosulfuron, metsulfuron, bensulfuron and pyrazosulfuron) have been found to be suitable alternatives to the old herbicide 2,4-D, an integrated weed management program must be developed in order to reduce the problem of herbicide resistance in weeds. Weed control methods that are more friendly to the environment and affordable to farmers must be sought. Weed-competitive and allelopathic rice varieties must be produced. The problem of weeds in rice calls for systematic studies on biotechnological methods of control of weedy rice. Detailed studies on the biology and ecology of notorious rice weeds, particularly Oryza sativa L. (weedy rice), Echinochloa spp., Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees, Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Vahl. and Limnocharis flava (L.) Buch. need to be done in order to formulate successful weed control measures.     

Development of lowland weed management and weed succession in Japan

Since the introduction of rice production in Japan, lowland areas have been managed for rice production with the purpose of better rice growth, as well as lesser weed infestation. Rice is cropped every year in lowland fields by repeated cultivation of a single crop, with high yields and without soil sickness usually being observed in upland fields. This is probably because the irrigation water supplies various nutrients for healthy rice growth and the drainage washes out and removes harmful factors. However, until recently, the wet or flooded conditions of lowland fields in the Asian monsoon region never have allowed humans to cultivate useful summer crops, except rice or some aquatic plants. Therefore, the management of lowland areas in the Asian monsoon region has been significantly different from European field management, where crop rotation has been the traditional standard practice. Paddy weeds are aquatic plants or hygrophytes that have adapted to lowland fields. Traditionally, tillage and puddling were practiced seasonally in lowland fields on a regular schedule every year. Rice cultivation technology was developed and supported by regional irrigation systems that created stable environments for typical paddy weeds to complete their life cycle. After the introduction of chemical weed control, rice fields became very severe habitats for these paddy weeds, where they could not grow and reproduce without strategies for survival under herbicide exposure. Even so, many of the traditional paddy weeds survived because of their accumulated or uneradicated seed banks, although several aquatic plants were listed as endangered or threatened species. The important weed species changed, sometimes rapidly and sometimes slowly, depending both on their reproductive system and their biological response towards field management and weed control systems. Very recently, the level of perennial weeds, herbicide‐resistant weeds, and weedy rice has increased in paddy fields that are highly dependent on herbicide use. In addition, several hygrophyte species have invaded paddy fields. In order to address these issues, the improvement and application of integrated weed management methods are expected to be critical.     

Herbicide‐resistant weed management: focus on glyphosate

This review focuses on proactive and reactive management of glyphosate‐resistant (GR) weeds. Glyphosate resistance in weeds has evolved under recurrent glyphosate usage, with little or no diversity in weed management practices. The main herbicide strategy for proactively or reactively managing GR weeds is to supplement glyphosate with herbicides of alternative modes of action and with soil‐residual activity. These herbicides can be applied in sequences or mixtures. Proactive or reactive GR weed management can be aided by crop cultivars with alternative single or stacked herbicide‐resistance traits, which will become increasingly available to growers in the future. Many growers with GR weeds continue to use glyphosate because of its economical broad‐spectrum weed control. Government farm policies, pesticide regulatory policies and industry actions should encourage growers to adopt a more proactive approach to GR weed management by providing the best information and training on management practices, information on the benefits of proactive management and voluntary incentives, as appropriate. Results from recent surveys in the United States indicate that such a change in grower attitudes may be occurring because of enhanced awareness of the benefits of proactive management and the relative cost of the reactive management of GR weeds. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Weedy rice: An expanding problem in direct‐seeded rice in the Philippines

Weedy rice is morphologically similar to cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.). It has biological characteristics that identify it as a weed. Its important weedy characteristics, that is, early and heavy seed shattering, makes it very difficult to control. Weedy rice has not been reported to be an important weed problem in transplanted, flooded rice. However, the shift to direct‐seeded rice (DSR) due to water issues and high costs of labor has increased reports of weedy rice becoming an expanding important problem in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Experts believe that the growing adoption of DSR in Asian countries will result in the rise of weedy rice as one of the top troublesome weeds in rice production. Early and recent surveys in the Philippines have indicated the urgent need to increase awareness of weedy rice among farmers to allow the implementation of a number of effective location‐specific weed management strategies. These surveys and other studies conducted since weedy rice was first reported in 1991 confirmed that weedy rice and grass weed species caused major problems in DSR areas. About 35% of the 4.56 M ha harvested area in the country is planted with DSR. As cultivated and weedy rice are close relatives, it would be very difficult to implement management options very early in crop growth. However, a deeper understanding of the underlying traits of weedy rice can help develop a holistic approach toward effective and economic weed management.     

Herbicide‐resistant weeds in the Philippines: Status and resistance mechanisms

Two major weeds in rice in the Philippines, Sphenochlea zeylanica Gaertn. and Echinochloa crus‐galli (L.) Beauv., are controlled with chemical and cultural methods. In the 1980s, after >10 years of continuous use of 2,4‐D, S. zeylanica evolved resistance to the chemical in those rice fields that had been treated with 2,4‐D once or twice every cropping season. In the 1990s, E. crus‐galli evolved resistance to butachlor and propanil in rice monocrop areas where both herbicides were used continuously for 7–9 years. Rice farmers continue to use 2,4‐D, butachlor and propanil extensively and are often unaware of herbicide resistance or the potential for cross‐resistance, its causes or its implications. In order to control herbicide‐resistant E. crus‐galli, farmers are shifting to locally available herbicides with different modes of action, such as bispyribac, an acetolactate synthase inhibitor, and cyhalofop, an acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase inhibitor. Follow‐up manual weeding or rotary weeding after herbicide spraying, a common farmers’ practice, removes the susceptible and resistant biotypes and could help to delay or prevent the evolution of resistance. Although the resistance mechanisms of both weeds are not determined yet, they could be related to enhanced degradation that is similar to the mechanisms that are shown by the resistant biotypes in other countries.     

Characterization of acetolactate synthase from sulfonylurea herbicide‐resistant Schoenoplectus juncoides

Ten accessions of sulfonylurea‐resistant Schoenoplectus juncoides were collected from paddy fields in Japan. In order to characterize acetolactate synthase from sulfonylurea‐resistant S. juncoides, acetolactate synthase amino acid substitutions, whole‐plant growth inhibition and acetolactate synthase enzyme inhibition were examined. Schoenoplectus juncoides has two acetolactate synthase genes (ALS1 and ALS2). The sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions harbored amino acid substitutions at Pro197 or Trp574 in either ALS1 or ALS2 (the amino acid number is standardized to the Arabidopsis thaliana sequence). The whole plants of all the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions showed resistance to imazosulfuron. The resistance level depended on the altered amino acid residues in acetolactate synthase. The acetolactate synthase enzyme that was partially purified from all the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions was less sensitive to imazosulfuron, compared to the susceptible accession, suggesting that the resistance is related to the altered acetolactate synthase enzyme. In addition, the concentration–response inhibition of acetolactate synthase activity by imazosulfuron in the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions was remarkably different with the presence of an amino acid substitution in either ALS1 or ALS2. Furthermore, the concentration–response inhibition of acetolactate synthase activity in the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions with a P197S, P197T or W574L mutation showed a double‐sigmoid curve. The regression analysis of enzyme inhibition suggested that the abundance ratio of ALS1 to ALS2 enzymes was approximately 70:30%, with a range of ±15%. Taken together, these results suggest that the resistance of sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions of S. juncoides is related to altered acetolactate synthase in either ALS1 or ALS2, although the abundance of the altered acetolactate synthase in the plants is different among the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions.     

Chemical control of weedy rice in precise hill‐direct‐seeded rice in South China

Precise hill‐direct‐seeded rice, which is both cost‐ and labor‐saving, is based on the direct seeding of rice by using a precision rice hill‐drop drilling machine. Weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea), also known as “red rice”, is a major weed in precise hill‐direct‐seeded rice, causing an ≤80% yield loss and a reduction in grain quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the control efficiency of weedy rice by pretilachlor (a pre‐emergence herbicide) and fenclorim (a safener) and their safety for precise hill‐direct‐seeded rice in two consecutive years. The amount of rice seed germination was accelerated by soaking the seeds in the safener at 0.67 g ai L^?1 for 1 h before sowing. The pre‐emergence pretilachlor treatments were applied 2 days after sowing cultured rice. The inhibition of the shoot fresh weight of the cultured rice was reduced by 3.3, 6.4 and 7.4% with 450, 900 and 1350 g ai ha^?1 of pretilachlor at 32 days after sowing (DAS) and that of the root fresh weight was reduced by 2.6, 4.9 and 8.1%, respectively. With fenclorim and pretilachlor in a precise hill‐direct‐seeded rice field in 2010 and 2011, the weedy rice control efficiency at 32 DAS was reduced by 100 and 98.0%, respectively. The pre‐emergence pretilachlor treatments that were applied at 2 DAS were much more efficient in the weedy rice control and less inhibitory to the cultured rice growth. The rice yield was increased by 26.1–26.7% in the mechanical precise hill‐direct‐seeded rice, relative to the manual‐seeding rice, with the application of fenclorim and pretilachlor.     

Propanil‐resistant barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus‐galli (L.) Beauv.] in Sri Lanka: Seedling growth under different temperatures and control

Experiments were conducted to (i) evaluate the efficacy of propanil formulations available in Sri Lanka in controlling Echinochloa crus‐galli; (ii) study the seedling growth of propanil‐resistant (R) and ‐susceptible (S) biotypes of the weed under different temperatures; (iii) quantify the level of resistance in R biotypes and; (iv) to suggest alternative control measures for R biotypes. Field studies showed that retail propanil formulations (36% a.i., EC) applied at 2.7 kg a.i. ha^?1 gave less than 30% control of E. crus‐galli collected from several locations of the north dry zone of Sri Lanka. Chemical analysis revealed that there was no adulteration of propanil formulations at the retailer level. Growth studies conducted in controlled environments indicated that per cent germination and seedling growth of R and S biotypes were similar at the day/night temperature regimes imposed. However, per cent germination for plants grown under a 34/31°C (day/night) regime was 27–29% higher compared to those grown at 28/24°C. At the higher temperature regime, R and S biotypes reached the 2–3 leaf stage five days earlier, and the 4–5 leaf stage seven days earlier. The ED₅₀ values from the dose–response experiments indicated that the R biotype was four times more resistant to propanil than susceptible ones. The resistance index (RI) did not vary significantly under different temperature regimes. Quinclorac (25% a.i., SC) applied at 200 g a.i. ha^?1 and bispyribac‐sodium (10% a.i., SC) applied at 30 g a.i. ha^?1 (recommended dosages) successfully controlled propanil‐resistant biotypes of E. crus‐galli. Conversely, oxadiazon and propanil (8% and 23% a.i., EC, respectively) applied at 280 + 805 g a.i. ha^?1 did not result in satisfactory control.