Search Results (3)

Detections of the regulated noxious parasitic weed branched broomrape (Phelipanche ramosa) in California tomato fields have led to interest in eradication, sanitation, and management practices. Researchers in Israel developed a decision-support system and herbicide treatment regime for management of Egyptian broomrape (P. aegyptiaca) in tomato. Research was conducted in 2019 and 2020 to evaluate whether similar treatments could be used to manage branched broomrape in California processing tomatoes and to provide registration support data for the herbicide use pattern. Treatment programs based on preplant incorporated (PPI) sulfosulfuron and chemigated imazapic were evaluated in 2019 and 2020 to determine safety on the processing tomato crop and on common rotational crops. Three single-season tomato safety experiments were conducted and a single rotational crop study was conducted in which a tomato crop received herbicide treatments in 2019 and several common rotational crops were planted and evaluated in 2020 in a site without branched broomrape. In 2020, an efficacy study was conducted in a commercial tomato field known to be infested with branched broomrape to evaluate the efficacy of PPI sulfosulfuron and chemigated imazapic, imazapyr, imazethapyr, and imazamox. After two field seasons, sulfosulfuron and imazapic appeared to have reasonable crop safety on tomato in California; however, rotational crop restrictions will need to be considered if sulfosulfuron is used to manage branched broomrape. In the efficacy study, there was a trend in which the sulfosulfuron and imidazolinone treatments had fewer broomrape shoots per plot than the grower standard treatments, however, none were fully effective and there were no significant differences among the various sulfosulfuron and imidazolinone treatment combinations. Additional research is needed to optimize the treatment timing for management of branched broomrape in this cropping system. Because of registration barriers with imazapic in the California market, future research will focus on treatment combinations of PPI sulfosulfuron and chemigated imazamox rather than imazapic. Full article

Parasitic plants belonging to the Orobanchaceae family include species that cause heavy damage to crops in Mediterranean climate regions. Phelipanche aegyptiaca is the most common of the Orobanchaceae species in Israel inflicting heavy damage to a wide range of broadleaf crops, including processing tomatoes. P. aegyptiaca is extremely difficult to control due to its minute and vast number of seeds and its underground association with host plant roots. The highly efficient attachment of the parasite haustoria into the host phloem and xylem enables the diversion of water, assimilates and minerals from the host into the parasite. Drip irrigation is the most common method of irrigation in processing tomatoes in Israel, but the delivery of herbicides via drip irrigation systems (herbigation) has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of these studies was to test, under laboratory and greenhouse conditions, the factors involved in the behavior of soil-herbigated imazapic, and the consequential influence of imazapic on P. aegyptiaca and tomato plants. Dose-response Petri dish studies showed that imazapic does not impede P. aegyptiaca seed germination and non-attached seedlings, even at the high rate of 5000 ppb. Imazapic applied to tomato roots inoculated with P. aegyptiaca seeds in a PE bag system revealed that the parasite is killed only after its attachment to the tomato roots, at concentrations as low as 2.5 ppb. Imazapic sorption curves and calculated Kd and Koc values indicated that the herbicide Kd is similar in all soils excluding a two-fold higher coefficient in the Gadash farm soil, while the Koc was similar in all soils except the Eden farm soil, in which it was more than twofold lower. In greenhouse studies, control of P. aegyptiaca was achieved at >2.5 ppb imazapic, but adequate control requires repeated applications due to the 7-day half-life (t_1/2) of the herbicide in the soil. Tracking of imazapic in soil and tomato roots revealed that the herbicide accumulates in the tomato host plant roots, but its movement to newly formed roots is limited. The data obtained in the laboratory and greenhouse studies provide invaluable knowledge for devising field imazapic application strategies via drip irrigation systems for efficient and selective broomrape control. Full article

Injectors are key pieces of equipment for chemigation systems, and their hydraulic performance has a significant effect on chemigation systems and crops. In order to investigate the influence of different working parameters on hydraulic performance for a water-powered proportional injector (PI), three key parameters of inlet and injection flow rate were researched using a one-factor experimental design method. The regression equations between different factors and response variables were established through a response surface method based on one-factor experimental results. Lastly, a mathematical model of the actual injection ratio was established. Some experiments under different, randomly selected parameter combinations were carried out to verify the prediction precision of the mathematical mode. The results showed that the injection flow rate increased first within the differential pressure of 0.05 to 0.10 MPa and then tended towards stability with increasing differential pressure. The injection flow rate decreased by increasing the viscosity and the change in the injection flow rate was small enough when the viscosity was greater than 500 mPa·s. The impact factors, in order of significance, for inlet flow rate were differential pressure, viscosity of injection liquid and setting injection ratio. The impact factors, in order of significance, for injection flow rate were viscosity of injection liquid, setting injection ratio and differential pressure. The regressive model for predicting the actual injection ratio was validated using an experiment and the relative deviation between calculated value and tested value was less than 5.98%, which indicated that the mathematical model had high credibility. Full article