Effectiveness of graminicide application in chickpea crops in the Eastern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

Goal. To determine the effect of herbicides, in particular graminicides with different active ingredients, on the weediness of crops and the yield of chickpea seeds in the conditions of the Eastern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Methods. Field, measuring and weighing, statistical. Results. Under conditions of the Eastern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, 27 species of weed plants were found in chickpea crops (annual cereals — 3 species, annual dicots — 17 species, perennial dicotyledonous — 7 species). Annual cereal weeds dominated in number (76.4%), and annual dicot weeds (44.3%) in terms of raw mass. The highest technical efficiency against annual cereal weeds, when applied during the budding stage of chickpea, was provided by the graminicide Lemur, EC (hyzalofop-P-tefuryl, 40 g/ l) — 1.5 l/ ha (by the number and raw mass of cereals, 99.2 and 98.3%, respectively), and the lowest efficiency was provided by the graminicide Selenite, EC (clethodim, 120 g/ l) — 1.0 l/ ha (79.4 and 71.8%, respectively). Tank mixture of soil herbicides Panda, EC (pendimethalin, 330 g/ l) — 3.5 l/ ha + Steals, EC (flurochloridone, 250 g/ l) — 2.0 l/ ha, which was applied in the pre-emergence period, controlled only the number of annual dicot weeds (technical efficiency was 62.1—79.0%), which was associated with a number of factors (the presence of resistant weed species in the crops, different soil moisture during the application period by years, the use of the minimum recommended doses of herbicides). The studied herbicides did not affect perennial dicot weeds. Combining soil herbicides with graminicides reduced the total number of weeds by 73.2—87.9%, and their raw weight by 22.4—43.0%. The highest economic efficiency (0.28 t/ ha) was provided by the composition of the preparations Panda, EC — 3.5 l/ ha + Steals, EC — 2.0 l/ ha (tank mixture) + Queen Star Max, EC (hyzalofop-P-ethyl, 125 g/ l) — 0.8 l/ ha. Conclusions. In the absence of the effect of the studied herbicides on perennial dicot weeds and the insufficient effect of soil herbicides on annual dicot species, despite the high effectiveness of graminicides against cereals, it was not possible to obtain significant increase in the yield of chickpea seeds (from 0.13 to 0.28 t/ ha).