THE WEED CONTROL IN SUNFLOWER CROPS UNDER PEDOCLIMATIC CONDITIONS FROM FUNDULEA

Abstract

The sunflower is part of the order Compositales (Asterales), the family Compositae (Asteraceae), is native to Central and North America and spread throughout the globe, especially for its oil. It is a plant that is cultivated on large areas in our country, especially in Dobrogea, the Romanian Plain and the West. The development and implementation of a complex of measures and methods for combating weeds in agricultural crops requires a thorough study of their lifestyle and behavior in different climatic conditions, due to the fact that weeds have different biological properties compared to the crop plant. In the pedoclimatic conditions specific to the area at NARDI - Fundulea, the sunflower crop presents a high weeds infestation (75%), a weeds spectrum and a dominance specific to the area. In the experimental field, the sunflower crop had characteristic weed species, the most representative being: monocotyledonous- Setaria viridis, Echinochloa crus-galli, Sorghum halepense and annual dicotyledons – Amaranthus retroflexus,Chenopodium album and Polygonum convolvulus.The study and control of weeds is an important research direction, because they cause damage that can affect production by up to 35% - 70%. Effective weed management is one of the many critical components of sunflower production. The purpose of the research was to identify weeds, crop selectivity and combat the weed species present by applying herbicide treatments, with the objective of broadening the spectrum of control, synergism, persistence and without negative impact on the environment.  The herbicide treatments  must be correlated with the infestation degree of weeds, the spectrum and dominance of weeds, the time of application, the technical potential for efficacy, the local climatic conditions from Fundulea.of weeds, the time of application, the technical potential for efficacy, the local climatic conditions.