The use of selective herbicides is frequent in post emergence of soybean crop for weed control. A field experiment was conducted at the Education, Research and Production Farm of UNESP in Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil, during the growing years 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 to evaluate the efficiency and selectivity of post herbicide application, alone and in mixtures, for weed control, on conventional (M-SOY 8001) and transgenic (M-SOY 7908 RR) soybean growth and development. Treatments consisted of the application of the following herbicides, alone or in mixture: lactofen (168 g ha-1), glyphosate (1080 g ha-1 ), lactofen + chlorimuron-ethyl (96 + 10 gha-1), chlorimuron-ethyl + imazethapyr (10 + 70 g ha-1), chlorimuron-ethyl + bentazon (10 + 600 g ha-1), glyphosate + imazethapyr (900 + 70 g ha-1), lactofen + chlorimuron-ethyl + imazethapyr (96 + 10 + 70 g ha-1) and lactofen + chlorimuron-ethyl + imazethapyr/haloxyfop-methyl (96 + 10 + 70 + 60 g ha-1). The tests included two non-treated controls. A randomized block experimental design was used with four replications. Lactofen applied alone and the mixtures chlorimuron-etyl, imazethapyr and haloxyfopmethyl did not cause initial injury in the soybean plants, but the plants recovered on the 27th day after application. In the first year, the chemical treatments did exert sufficient control over the weeds and in the second year, the glyphosate and glyphosate + imazethapyr treatments presented the best weed control. In the second year, a reduction was observed in the final height of the soybean plants treated with chlorimuron-ethyl + imazethapyr, lactofen + chlorimuron-ethyl + imazethapyr and lactofen + chlorimuron-ethyl + imazethapyr/haloxyfop-methyl. A yield reduction was verified in soybean M-SOY 7908 RR, treated with lactofen alone and with the mixture chlorimuron ethyl + bentazon in the first year. The chlorimuron-ethyl + bentazon treatment provided a reduction in soybean M-SOY 8001 yield in the second year.
lactofen; phytotoxicity; Glycine max; glyphosate
