Growth of robusta coffee after the application of herbicides to control Urochloa ruziziensis

Abstract

The growth of coffee plants can be severely affected by competition with other plants, being necessary to the management of these, which can be performed by controls manual, mechanical, biological and chemical methods. This study aimed to evaluate the growth of coffee robusta due to no control of Urochloa ruziziensis (cv. Common) and control by manual weeding and herbicides in post emergence, seeking the most appropriate method. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four replicates of four treatments: control (no control of the U. ruziziensis); manual weeding; oxyfluorfen (1.44 kg a.i. ha-1); paraquat + diuron (0.40 + 0.20 kg a.i. ha-1) and glyphosate (1.92 kg a.i. ha-1), with the spray volume equivalent to 200 L ha-1. The herbicides were applied directly on the U. ruziziens plants 60 days after planting. 30 days after treatment, the following were evaluated: a, b and total chlorophyll content, stem diameter, plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, orthotropic and plagiotropic branches, dry shoot biomass, dry root biomass and root growth. U. ruziziens, when not controlled, caused a 42% reduction in the leaf area of robusta coffee in relation to those that were controlled through manual weeding. The herbicide oxyfluorfen and weeding were the most suitable for the control of U. ruziziens in the cultivation of coffee, since they did not affect seedling growth. Failure to control U. ruziziens or weeds leads to reduced growth of robusta coffee plants, except in the height due to the etiolation caused by competition with U. ruziziens.