Group B herbicide tolerance in lentil and faba bean on the Eyre Peninsula

Full description

To make full use of in-crop rainfall, stored soil moisture and nutrients, and prevent weed seed contamination, the control of weeds in a pulse break crop phase is essential. Currently, herbicides are the primary method of weed control in broadacre cropping systems. However, there are limited options for broadleaf weed control in pulse crops, as there are few effective broadleaf post emergent herbicides available for use in faba bean and lentil. Along with limited control options, the presence of possible herbicide residues, such as sulfonylureas (SU), from previous crops are major deterrents for including pulses in a cropping rotation where there is an increased risk of herbicide damage. In recent years, Group B herbicide tolerant (HT) lentil and faba bean varieties have been released to Australian growers and have proven very popular for giving more flexible weed control options, particularly for late emerging broadleaf weeds. The Group B herbicide tolerance traits not only provide growers with in-crop options for broadleaf weed control, but also allow these pulse crops to be grown on Group B (including SU) herbicide residues, which can persist from previous crop applications for up to 24 months or longer, depending on rainfall (minimum of 700 mm) and soil pH (as per DuPont™ Glean® and Tackle® WG product labels).
The aim of these trials was to evaluate the levels of tolerance to simulated residues and post-emergent applications of Group B herbicides in lentil XT varieties, and a faba bean mutant derived line with Group B herbicide tolerance traits.