Selectivity of Post-emergence Herbicides for the Chickpea

Few herbicide options are available for controlling post-emergence weeds in the chickpea. The aim of this work therefore, was to study the selectivity of herbicides applied post-emergence for the chickpea ‘BRS Aleppo’. Two experiments were carried out, one in the greenhouse and the other in the field (winter-spring crop). A completely randomised experimental design was used for the screening experiment (greenhouse), with 15 treatments and four replications. Fourteen treatments with herbicides (g a.i. ha-1) were evaluated: bentazon (360 and 720), chlorimuron (10 and 20), clethodim (54 and 108), fluazifop (94 and 188), fomesafen (125 and 250), haloxyfop (30 and 60) and lactofen (90 and 180), in addition to the control with no application. From this experiment, herbicides that did not impair growth in the chickpea were selected for the field experiment based on plant height and shoot dry matter. During the field stage, a randomised block design was used, with 11 treatments and three replications. Ten treatments including the herbicides clethodim, fluazifop, fomesafen, haloxyfop and lactofen were evaluated in two rates, in addition to the control with no application. Based on the results of the two experiments, it was concluded that the ACCase inhibitors (clethodim, fluazifop and haloxyfop) caused no lesions or damage to the chickpea, while the latifolicides (fomesafen and lactofen) caused visual lesions which did not result in significant loss in yield. Bentazon (360 and 720 g a.i. ha-1) and chlorimuron-ethyl (10 and 20 a.i. g ha-1) were not selective, causing severe damage to the chickpea plants.