The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the herbicides ametryn and trifloxysulfuron-sodium, applied alone or in mixture, on the characteristics associated to water use efficiency in sugarcane varieties under field conditions. The trial was installed in a completely randomized block design with split-plots and four replications. Plots were composed by the herbicides ametryn, trifloxysulfuron-sodium or a commercial mixture of ametryn + trifloxysulfuron-sodium, applied 65 days after planting, plus a control mechanically free of weed infestation; split-plots were composed by sugarcane varieties (RB72454, RB835486, RB855113, RB867515, RB947520 and SP80-1816). Fifteen days after herbicide application, stomatal conductance (Gs), temperature gradient between leaf and air (DT) and transpiration rate (E) were evaluated, and water use efficiency (WUE) was obtained as a function of photosynthesis and transpiration rates. Plant shoots were also collected for dry matter determination. Variety RB855113 presented the greatest damage to water use efficiency and transpiration and was thus considered the most sensitive to ametryn and trifloxysulfuron, while varieties SP80-1816 and RB867515 were the most tolerant. In these varieties, herbicides caused only minor changes in water use efficiency and thermal gradient. Stomatal conductance, leaf temperature, transpiration and water use efficiency were effective in identifying herbicide damage to crops, mainly those caused by photosynthesis-inhibiting herbicides; sugarcane genotypes showed a different behavior in relation to herbicide susceptibility and varieties SP80-1816 and RB867515 were the less affected by the herbicide treatments; on the other hand, RB855113 was the most severely affected.
Saccharum spp; efficient water use; herbicide mixture; sugarcane cultivars
