Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agronomy / Phillip W. Stahlman / Saflufenacil is an experimental herbicide for control of broadleaf weeds in various crops including several herbicide resistant weed biotypes. Wheat is highly tolerant to preplant and preemergence applications of saflufenacil, but winter wheat growers prefer to apply herbicides postemergence (POST) in early spring. Objectives of this research were to (1) evaluate winter wheat and four common broadleaf weed species response to POST treatments of saflufenacil applied alone and in combination with bentazon or auxin herbicides at various rates both with and without adjuvants, and to (2) determine the possible mechanism(s) responsible for crop safening observed when saflufenacil is applied with 2,4-D amine or bentazon in winter wheat. Growth chamber, greenhouse, and field studies showed saflufenacil at a minimum rate of 25 g/ha controlled blue mustard and flixweed >85% when saflufenacil was applied alone or mixed with dicamba, 2,4-D amine, 2,4-D ester, or MCPA ester. Also, mixtures of bentazon with 13 g/ha of saflufenacil resulted in death of kochia, but increasingly higher rates of 2,4-D amine were needed to achieve 90% growth reduction when saflufenacil rates were decreased from 50 to 25 to 13 g/ha. In general, most of the saflufenacil combinations tested controlled henbit <85%. Leaf necrosis and stunting of winter wheat were reduced by tank mixing saflufenacil with dicamba, 2,4-D amine, or bentazon, but not with MCPA ester or 2,4-D ester. Including nonionic surfactant (NIS) in mixtures of saflufenacil plus 2,4-D amine resulted in significant wheat injury similar or greater than injury caused by saflufenacil plus NIS. Finally, 2,4-D amine enhanced saflufenacil absorption into winter wheat plants, whereas bentazon reduced absorption of saflufenacil. No more than 11% of applied saflufenacil translocated out of treated leaves to other plant parts when applied alone or when saflufenacil was mixed with 2,4-D amine or bentazon. Metabolism of saflufenacil by wheat plants was not affected by tank mixing with bentazon, but saflufenacil metabolism was slowed by mixing with 2,4-D amine. Overall, these studies indicate saflufenacil can potentially be used POST in wheat at an optimum rate of 25 g/ha plus 2,4-D amine or dicamba to effectively control blue mustard and flixweed.

From the Proceedings of the 1971 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 22-23, 1971, Tempe, Arizona / Mulches have been used for evaporation suppression in facilitating vegetable production under arid lands conditions. A study was undertaken in order to evaluate the effectiveness of plastic aprons, supplied by the FAO, as compared to gravel mulches. The vinyl aprons were 6 mils thick and about 1 meter square. Squash plants (Cucurbita pepo) were planted with gravel or plastic aprons or in bare areas and under different watering schedules. The yields under plastic aprons were considerably greater than under gravel and required slightly less water. Bare soil yields lagged far behind. Soil temperatures under the plastic aprons were consistently higher over 24 hours than bare soil, which within limits, would facilitate faster crop growth. Additionally, the apron collects and diverts rainfall to the plant. The vinyl used lasts only 2 seasons, and gravel would probably be a more suitable mulch for developing countries where capital is scarce.

From the Proceedings of the 1971 Meetings of the Arizona Section - American Water Resources Assn. and the Hydrology Section - Arizona Academy of Science - April 22-23, 1971, Tempe, Arizona / Playa lakes usually occur in arid or semiarid regions where lands are flat and there is an absence of well-developed surface drainage nets. They are usually filled by surface runoff from highly erratic precipitation patterns. There are about 20,000 of them in the high plains of Texas and their volume of storage is an estimated 2.5-3 maf. As such, they represent a major underutilized water source. The major drawbacks to their utilization are high evaporation losses, questionable depth-area relations and the stochastic nature of the rainfall source. This paper assumes that the water is available and presents a dynamic programming model useful in determining the optimal utilization of the water for irrigation. If irrigation is the major use, its timing of application is of paramount importance. A deterministic dynamic programming model, utilizing the state variables of antecedent soil moisture and amount of available water, is presented, and provides the time and amount of irrigation required to maximize crop response. A better stochastic model is also presented which considers rainfall probability and resulting lake filling. The models are only first attempts and do not incorporate all possible variables.