Response of Direct-Seeded Dry Bulb Onion to Simulated Glyphosate Drift with Variable Rates and Application Timings

Abstract

Field studies were conducted in 2011 at the Malheur Experiment Station, Ontario, OR and Prosser, WA to evaluate the effect of simulated glyphosate drift on direct-seeded dry bulb onion. Glyphosate was applied at 8.6, 25.8, 86, 290, 434, and 860 g ae ha−1when onion plants were at the flag-, two-, four-, and six-leaf stages. Onion foliar injury was directly related to the glyphosate dose and varied with application timing. Foliar injury at 7 d after treatment (DAT) ranged from 0 to 12% for glyphosate ≤ 25.8 g ha−1. Foliar injury increased at 21 DAT when glyphosate was applied ≥ 25.8 g ha−1to plants at the flag- and four-leaf stage, and ranged from 24 to 99%. The 50%-injury glyphosate dose at 21 DAT was lowest when onion was treated at the four-leaf and flag stages and was estimated to be 76.8 and 81 g ha−1, respectively. Onion injury severity increased when glyphosate was applied at ≥ 86 g ha−1and eventually resulted in plant death at 860 g ha−1. Foliar injury was inversely correlated to U.S. no. 1 onion yield. Onions displayed sensitivity to very low glyphosate doses especially at the four-leaf stage. Shikimic acid accumulation increased with the increase in glyphosate dose and was positively correlated with foliar injury and negatively correlated with plant height and onion yield.