Yield and physiological quality of wheat seeds after desiccation with different herbicides

Abstract: Some desiccation techniques for harvesting wheat may affect seed quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different desiccant herbicides applied to the wheat crop and their effects on the production and seed quality. The experiment was conducted with cultivar COODETEC 150 (CD 150) in two sites in Palotina (Paraná state, Brazil) with a randomized block design consisting of 7 treatments (desiccation herbicides) and 4 replications. Desiccation was realized when 50% of the plants were in stage 80 with seeds in powdery or mass consistency. The variables analyzed were percentage of moisture content after harvest, Yield, hectoliter weight, mass of 100 seeds, vigor, germination, fresh mass of seedlings, dry mass of seedlings and root length. The herbicides carfentrazone-ethyl and clethodim were the ones that promoted greatest reduction in vigor. The herbicide paraquat caused reduction in seedling length. There was a reduction in the mass of 100 seeds for glufosinate-ammonium, clethodim, diquat and carfentrazone-ethyl. Glufosinate-ammonium, paraquat, glyphosate, clethodim and diquat caused reduction in yield. Desiccation of Cultivar CD 150 at stage 80 is not recommended, since plant Yield and physiological seed parameters were adversely affected by herbicides