Herbicide Options for Rice Cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides) Control

Abstract

Rice cutgrass is encroaching into rice fields from ditch banks and canals, especially into continuous rice fields where tillage is limited in the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of various herbicides applied alone on rice cutgrass and to determine if the effectiveness of bispyribac on rice cutgrass is influenced by number of applications, adjuvant type, and adjuvant rate. Glyphosate, glufosinate, and clethodim were the most effective herbicides when applied alone; however, none of these are labeled for over-the-top application in rice. Of those herbicides that can be applied over the top of rice, imazethapyr and bispyribac were the most effective, providing 52 to 62% rice cutgrass control, albeit imazethapyr can be used only in imidazolinone-resistant rice. The addition of an adjuvant to bispyribac improved rice cutgrass control, and sequential bispyribac applications were generally superior to a single application. Methylated seed oil/organosilicone/urea ammonium nitrate adjuvant increased rice cutgrass control with bispyribac, especially when bispyribac was applied as a single application. A single application of imazethapyr, bispyribac, halosulfuron, penoxsulam, clomazone, thiobencarb, cyhalofop, propanil, quinclorac, and fenoxaprop provided less-than-acceptable control, which partially explains the difficulty that growers are experiencing in controlling rice cutgrass, especially in continuous rice production.