How to control broadleaf weeds in potato fields
It is currently the season for harvesting no-till potatoes in Guangxi. At the no-till potato base in Baqiao Village, Shuangqiao Town, Wuming County, Guangxi, on-site yield measurement showed that the average yield of no-till potatoes reached 25 sha-kilograms per mu, more than 1.5 times the national average potato yield per mu. Renowned potato expert Sun Huisheng said that Guangxi's rice-straw-mulched no-till cultivation...
For chemical control of broadleaf weeds in potato fields, soil-closing treatment should mainly be carried out after sowing and before emergence using oxyfluorfen, pendimethalin, acetochlor and other herbicides. During the potato growing season, there are no particularly good, safe and effective herbicides for controlling broadleaf weeds; where one has experience with herbicide use, rimsulfuron and bentazone can be considered for weed control.It is understood that DuPont (tel: 021-58672488) of the United States has registered 25% rimsulfuron water-dispersible granules for controlling annual weeds in corn and tobacco fields; it can be used for post-emergence foliar treatment during the growing season of potatoes and solanaceous crops such as tomato, eggplant and pepper to control many weeds, including grass weeds such as crabgrass, foxtail, goosegrass, barnyardgrass and wild oat, as well as volunteer wheat seedlings, and broadleaf weeds such as woodsorrel, lambsquarters, smartweed, amaranth, mustard, purslane, chickweed and field bindweed, and sedges such as purple nutsedge. It is best to apply the herbicide when the weeds in the field have basically all emerged and are at the 2-4 leaf stage. Spray evenly in a directed manner between the rows, taking care to keep the nozzle height below the crop growing point so that the spray solution lands exactly between the crop rows; the herbicide must not be sprayed directly onto the crop growing point, otherwise phytotoxicity is likely to occur. It is recommended to expand the area only after a successful small-scale trial.