Effect of New Pre-Emergence Herbicides on Quality and Yield of Potato and Its Associated Weeds

Ibrahim S. Abdallah, Mohamed A. M. Atia, Amira K. Nasrallah, Hossam S. El-Beltagi, Farida F. Kabil, Mohamed M. El-Mogy and Emad A. Abdeldaym
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Ibrahim S. Abdallah: Department of Pesticides, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
Mohamed A. M. Atia: Molecular Genetics and Genome Mapping Laboratory, Genome Mapping Department, Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza 12619, Egypt
Amira K. Nasrallah: Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
Hossam S. El-Beltagi: Agricultural Biotechnology Department, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Farida F. Kabil: Vegetable Crops Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
Mohamed M. El-Mogy: Vegetable Crops Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
Emad A. Abdeldaym: Vegetable Crops Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 17, 1-17

Abstract: Potato is an economically important vegetable crop in Egypt. Weed infestation, especially broad-leafed, during the vegetative growth stage substantially affects both crop yield and tuber quality. In the current study, the impact of new ready-mix pre-emergent herbicides on broadleaf weeds, tuber yield, and quality was evaluated. The two-year field experiment comprised the following treatments: (1) Un-weeded control, (2) Hand hoeing, (3) Sencor, (4) Ecopart, (5) Zeus, (6) Kroki, and (7) Flomex. The results showed that weed control treatments significantly reduced the weed density compared to un-weeded control and the herbicides efficacy reached over 90%. The herbicidal treatments also significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes peroxidases (POX) and catalase (CAT) and improved the non-enzymatic antioxidant (carotenoids) compared to un-weeded control. Conversely, the higher content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in potato leaves was obtained for un-weeded control. Moreover, weed control treatments caused significant enhancement in plant growth parameters, yield, and its components in addition to tuber quality of potato. Compared to the un-weeded control, maximum tuber yield was observed in Flomex followed by Ecopart, Kroki, Zeus, and Sencor, respectively. The higher number of tubers and total yield were recorded in plants treated with Flomex plus compared to all the other treatments. Higher content of total soluble sugar, total soluble protein, and total starch content was observed in weed control treatments compared with un-weeded control. Based on Pearson’s correlation and heatmap analysis, the changes in agro-physiological parameters data are linked to the herbicidal treatments. The results indicate that the applied herbicides could be alternative products for Sencor and an option for controlling broadleaved weeds. However, further studies are needed to ensure their efficacy and safety under other conditions.

Keywords: broadleaved weeds; weed management; Solanum tuberosum; agro-physiological traits; tuber quality; herbicides (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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