FLUXOFENIM APPLIED ON WHEAT AS A SAFENER FOR PROTECTION AGAINST SMETOLACHLOR HERBICIDE

ABSTRACT This work aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of fluxofenim used for seed treatment as safener in wheat, Ônix cultivar, treated with the herbicide S-metolachlor applied in pre-emergence. The study was divided in two steps. The first step consisted of an evaluation of fluxofenim’s safener potential for the reduction of visual symptoms of S-metolachlor injury in the field, and the treatments were S-metolachlor at 1,440 and 2,880 mL i.a. ha-1 and fluxofenim at 0, and 40 mL per 100 kg of seeds, and a control without herbicide. The second step was to evaluate glutathione S-transferase activity (GST). Herbicide phytotoxity was measured by way of visual symptoms at 3, 7, 15, and 30 days after emergence (DAE), dry matter from roots and leaves at 10 DAE. For the determination of GST activity, the canopy of plants was collected at 10 DAE and 15 days after treatment application. The wheat presented low tolerance to S-metolachlor at both rates, and fluxofenim increased S-metolachlor selectivity to wheat but not sufficiently, reducing plant population to a nonacceptable level. Gluthationa S-transferase activity for wheat increased when seeds treated with fluxofenim were submitted to S-metolachlor at 1,440 mL a.i. ha-1.