Print This PageRoundup Ready Canola - Excellent weed control
A view from the field - James Nielsen, Roundup Ready canola Technical Specialist
I write this having today visited 6 of the 17 commercial Roundup Ready® canola crops that are being grown in Western Australia as part of a commercial trial of GM canola in 2009. Across these crops the thing that has struck me is the high level of weed control that has been achieved in the Roundup Ready canola system.
Although these 6 crops range markedly in growth stage, from small 6 leaf canola to full flowering, and vary widely in the weed spectrum present in the paddock, control of this large range of weeds has been excellent. All 6 growers of these crops have utilized the two spray strategy to control weeds, applying an early Roundup Ready herbicide application between canola emergence and 2 leaves to minimize early crop competition and a later spray prior to 6 leaves to control subsequent germinations prior to canopy closure.
This experience in Western Australia ties in with what we have seen in Victoria and New South Wales in both 2008, and in 2009, as we move towards the end of the herbicide application window. In a survey of Roundup Ready canola growers from 2008, 93% of growers rated their weed control as excellent, compared to only 27% of triazine tolerant canola growers. They achieved excellent control despite the majority of growers using the Roundup Ready canola system in their high weed pressure paddocks, testing the fit of the system in their rotations.
In the rotation, Roundup Ready canola is an important tool for growers who are challenged by resistance to other forms of chemistry. We know through our stewardship efforts that over 70% of 2009 Roundup Ready canola growers have indicated resistance to at least one other chemistry mode of action. Roundup Ready canola allows growers to relieve pressure on these other herbicide systems and maintain canola as a key component of their cropping rotation.
The main benefit of Roundup Ready canola is that it allows growers to achieve excellent weed control while maintaining yield potential, overcoming the trade off of triazine tolerant canola which is currently the dominant canola system in Australia. Through technologies like Roundup Ready canola we are working to provide growers with the best possible technologies to improve the sustainability of cropping systems.
Figure 1. Before Roundup Ready Herbicide application
Figure 2. After Roundup Ready herbicide application
