Australia
September 11, 2013

If you drove to work at the same time each day and hit a major traffic jam each time, you might consider changing the time you drive to work. It seems that annual ryegrass has also come to the same conclusion.

AHRI research by Mechelle Owen has confirmed that greater seed dormancy is positively correlated with higher levels of herbicide resistance in ryegrass. This means that populations of ryegrass with a higher resistance status have higher levels of seed dormancy. Although these traits are not genetically linked, it does allow ryegrass to germinate later to avoid knockdown (burn down) herbicides.

Delayed germination and herbicide resistance are both traits that improve weed survival. Ryegrass has adapted to a regular, predictable cropping system to give it the best chance of survival. To overcome this adaptation we need to confuse the enemy and exploit this adaptation. 

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Published: September 11, 2013