THE EFFECT OF HERBICIDES ON THE CHEMICAL CONTENT OF WHEAT GRAIN

The importance of herbicides for weed control in wheat crop is extensively studied, but there is limited research about their impact on the chemical content of wheat grain. With the aim to analyse the effect of five commonly used herbicides on the chemical content of winter wheat crop (cv. Euclide) grown on Vertisol soil, field trial was carried out during 2012-13 in the central part of Kosovo. The five applied post-emergence herbicides were: Sekator WG (a.i. iodosulfuron-methyl-natrium + amidosulfuron + mefenpyr-diethyl-protectant), Lintur 70 WG (a.i. triasulfuron + dicamba), Granstar 75 WG (a.i. tribenuron-methyl), Mustang (a.i. florasulam + 2,4-D 2-EH) and a combination of Sekator WG (a.i. iodosulfuron-methyl-natrium + amidosulfuron + mefenpyr-diethyl-protectant) + Furore super EW (a.i. fenoxaprop-P-ethyl). There were seven treatments: five herbicide treatments, mechanical control (hand check) and an untreated control. The field trial was set in a randomized block design with four replications and elementary plots of 9 m2. The chemical content of wheat grain (crude proteins, crude fibre, fat, starch, ash and moisture) was analysed using NIRS technique. Milled samples of 20 g were placed in special boxes and sealed with a lid of cardboard and placed in the NIRS s apparatus for the analyses. Three replications for each treatment were used for the statistical analysis. There was significant effect of herbicides for crude proteins (F2.21 = 5.10, p 0.05), fat content (F2.21 = 5.36, p 0.05), crude fibre (F2.21 = 13.0, p 0.05) and ash (F2.21 = 2.84, p 0.05). However, no significant effect of the herbicides on starch content was observed. Based on our results we suggest to additionally consider the effects of herbicides on the chemical content of wheat grain in the process of choosing appropriate herbicides for weed control.