ERADICATION OF PARAQUAT-RESISTANT HORDEUM-GLAUCUM STEUD - BY PREVENTION OF SEED PRODUCTION FOR 3 YEARS

Seeds of two biotypes of the grass weed, barley grass (Hordeum glaucum Steud.), one resistant and the other susceptible to the herbicide paraquat, were studied to ascertain whether they had the same dormancy characteristics. Regardless of field storage conditions, both paraquat-resistant and susceptible H. glaucum germinated readily after identical short-term (2-month) innate dormancy. A field experiment conducted to determine the longevity of seeds of resistant H. glaucum in the soil seedbank revealed that, in the absence of fresh seed production, reserves of this species were exhausted within 3 years. These experiments establish that seeds of the resistant biotype of H. glaucum have a short residual life in the seedbank, and that by totally preventing seed production for 3 successive years it is possible to eradicate this resistant biotype.