Concern has been raised that herbicides recently registered for use in warm-season turf to control perennial ryegrass could be dislodged from treated areas and deposited on neighboring cool-season grasses. In a field study, rimsulfuron was applied at 17.5 or 35 g ai/ha to perennial ryegrass in the afternoon; the following morning while dew was still present, a greens mower was driven through the perennial ryegrass and across adjacent creeping bentgrass. Irrigation had no effect on perennial ryegrass control but reduced visible track length and injury of neighboring creeping bentgrass. When treated perennial ryegrass was not irrigated prior to simulated mowing, tire tracks were evident on adjacent creeping bentgrass for up to 30 days. Gibberellic acid at 0.12 kg ai/ha and foliar iron at 1.3 kg ai/ha, applied to creeping bentgrass when tracks first appeared, did not enhance recovery of injured creeping bentgrass. Persistence and stability of [2-pyridine 14C] rimsulfuron on turf foliage was also assessed. Rimsulfuron was absorbed by annual bluegrass and perennial ryegrass equivalently and persisted equally on turf foliage. Water extractable rimsulfuron decreased from 60% at 10 minutes after treatment to 40% at 96 hours after treatment. A substantial amount of stable rimsulfuron persists on turf foliage for up to four days. Results from both studies suggest that when applying rimsulfuron near susceptible bentgrass the lowest effective rate should be used, and irrigation should follow two hours after treatment to prevent nontarget injury. / Master of Science

Red rice (Oryza spp.) is one of the main limiting factors of rice yield (O. sativa L.) in the world and particularly in the Rio Grande do Sul (RS) state Brazil. The Clearfield® technology is a viable and efficient tool for controlling such harmful plant by using imidazolinone herbicides in tolerant cultivars. However, herbicides may persist on the soil after the crop season in amount that could affect the future use of the area with other crops as well as with non tolerant rice cultivars. The persistence of this kind of herbicides is highly dependent on the soil s environmental conditions. It increases in low pH soils with high organic matter (MO) content, and under anaerobic conditions. The main way of herbicide dissipation is the biodegradations; they can be photolysis or be lixiviated bellow the roots absorption region. Two field experiments were carried out on lowland soil in Santa Maria-RS during 2006/2007. The first experiment (Chapter II) had the objective of determining the effect of nine soil tillages (four on no till or minimum till seeping and five, on conventional tillage) on the phytotoxicity of non tolerant rice. The residual effect of the herbicide Only® affected plants stand, tillering, panicle number and plant heights of cultivar IRGA 417, but did not affect the grain yield. Soil plowing decreased herbicide activity on the soil surface (0-3 cm) without affecting the variables assayed. The second experiment (Chapter III) had the objective of determining the effect of two soil tillages (no till- PD- and conventional tillage-PC) on imazethapyr degradation and leaching. Higher degradation of imazethapyr was registered on PC than on PD. Imazethapyr leaching until 20 cm regardless the tillage system. In PC, a uniform distribution of imazethapyr was observed in the first 15 cm of soil while in PD there was a lower concentration of imazethapyr at 0-5 cm, which accumulated at 5-15 cm deep. / O arroz-vermelho (Oryza spp.) é um dos principais fatores limitantes da produtividade de grãos do arroz irrigado (O. sativa L.) no mundo e em particular do estado do Rio Grande do Sul (RS) Brasil. A tecnologia Clearfield® é uma ferramenta viável e eficiente para o controle desta planta daninha, mediante o uso de herbicidas da família das imidazolinonas junto com cultivares tolerantes a estes herbicidas. No entanto, os herbicidas podem permanecer no solo após o cultivo, em quantidade que pode comprometer a utilização futura da área com outras culturas, ou mesmo com cultivares de arroz não tolerante (NT). A permanência destes herbicidas no solo é muito dependente das condições ambientais e de solo, aumentando sua persistência em solos com pH baixos, com altos conteúdos de matéria orgânica (MO), argila e em condições de anaerobioses. A principal via de dissipação destes herbicidas é a microbiana, podendo também, sofrer fotólises ou serem lixiviados para fora da área de absorção das raízes. Foram conduzidos dois experimentos sob solo de várzea, em Santa Maria-RS no ano agrícola 2006/07. O primeiro experimento (Capítulo II) teve como objetivo determinar o efeito de nove manejos de solo (quatro sob plantio direto ou semidireto e cinco sob plantio convencional), na fitotoxicidade do arroz não tolerante. O efeito residual do herbicida Only® afetou o estande de plantas, perfilhamento, número de panículas e a estatura da cultivar não tolerante IRGA 417, porém não afetou a produtividade de grãos. O revolvimento do solo diminuiu a atividade do herbicida na camada superficial de solo (0-3 cm), embora não tenha afetado as variáveis analisadas. O segundo experimento (Capítulo III) teve como objetivo determinar o efeito de dois manejos de solo, plantio direto (PD) e plantio convencional (PC), na degradação e lixiviação do imazethapyr. Ocorreu maior degradação de imazethapyr no PC do que no PD. Imazethapyr lixiviou até 20 cm, independente do sistema de cultivo. No PC existe uma distribuição uniforme do imazethapyr nos primeiros 15 cm de solo e no PD existe menor concentração de imazethapyr de 0-5 cm, e acúmulo do herbicida de 5-15 cm de profundidade.