Response of chickpea cultivars to pre- and post-emergence herbicide applications

Taran, B., Holm, F. and Banniza, S. 2013. Response of chickpea cultivars to pre- and post-emergence herbicide applications. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 279-286. Weed control is one of the major constraints of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) production in western Canada. There are no highly selective herbicides registered for broadleaf weed control in this crop in western Canada, consequently herbicide injury to the crop is an issue in many situations. Experiments were conducted at Saskatoon and Elrose, SK, to examine the effects of herbicide treatments on ascochyta blight severity, days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height and yield of several chickpea cultivars. Results in 2008 and 2009 showed that sulfentrazone was the safest option evaluated for broadleaf weed control in chickpea. The results also showed that although a pre-emergence application of low-rate imazethapyr caused minor levels of injury to the plants and slightly increased ascochyta blight severity, it had only minor effects on plant development and yield compared with sulfentrazone. In contrast, post-emergence applications of imazethapyr, imazamox and metribuzin increased ascochyta blight severity significantly, delayed flowering and maturity and reduced yield. The extent of the effects of pre- and post-emergence herbicide applications varied with cultivars.