MOBILITY OF IMAZAQUIN HERBICIDE IN DIFFERENT SOILS TYPES

ABSTRACT: Imazaquin is an herbicide widely used in Brazil to control weeds associated with the soybean crop. This work aimed to study the mobility and leaching of imazaquin in soils with different characteristics. In both experiments, a completely randomized block design was used; with tree replicates. We study the mobility of imazaquin in Red Eutrophic Latosol, clayey; Alfisol Haplic Eutrophic, medium texture; Alfissol Eutrophic, medium texture; and Orthic Psament, sandy texture. To obtain the mobility rate (Mr), a solution of 14C-imazaquin with the activity of 304,75 Bq/mL was applied to plates containing different soils. All Mr values range between 0.803 and 1, indicating that imazaquin has a relevant mobility in our soils. In the leaching study, the soils were classified as Rhodic and differed chemically. The herbicide imazaquin (14C + imazaquin technical product) was applied to the highest recommended dose ( 161 g a.i. ha-1), directly on the soil surface of each column. After that, was done a rainfall simulation of 200 mm. Nearly 100% of the herbicide was in the 0-10 cm layer, however, the soil with higher pH, the herbicide was distributed to 15-20 cm depth. The herbicide imazaquin has greater mobility in soils with low organic matter and clay and soils with high Ph.