Professor Jim Pratley, Mr Peter Slater
Research Staff:
Ms Ragini Ravindran and Ms Elisa Heylin
Funding:
$203,500 (RIRDC - RIC97-13)
Duration:
1997-2000
Project Summary:
Dirty dora is one of the main broadleaf weeds of
rice in southern NSW. It is currently controlled
by Londax®, a sulfonylurea herbicide to which
resistance has developed in the US and now in Australia.
Saturn® is also used but does not control the other
broadleaf aquatic weeds.
The economic consequences of
Londax® resistance by dirty dora are substantial with significant
yield penalities of 10-15% as a minimum position and
the possible change in cultural practices of rice and
a necessary reduction in the frequency with which
rice is grown. The emergence within the last two years
of water plantain as a major threat to the industry is
also of concern since herbicide options are limited
and responses are variable.
In both cases no IPM strategies can be
developed without a high level of understanding of the
biology of these weeds. Currently little knowledge exists
on their biology.
This project aims to improve the knowledge and understanding of the biology of dirty dora and
water plantain. The outcomes are that systems for integrated weed management for these species will
be developed to counteract the problem of
herbicide resistance which threatens to undermine
rice production in Australia.
