CONTROL DE MALEZAS CON HERBICIDAS Y M\uc9TODOS MEC\uc1NICOS EN PLANTACIONES J 3VENES DE CAF\uc9

En los dos primeros a\uf1os despu\ue9s de la siembra del caf\ue9 (Coffea arabica L.) se requieren repetidos controles de maleza para mantener el cultivo libre de interferencia, ocasionando altos costos y tiempo de labor. Se realiz\uf3 un experimento en una plantaci\uf3n de 6 meses de edad, en Bram\uf3n estado T\ue1chira, Venezuela, para evaluar herbicidas en esta fase del cultivo. Los tratamientos consistieron en oxyfluorfen 960 g i.a./ha y napropamida 2 kg i.a./ha diluidos en 880 L de agua aplicados con asperjadora de espalda; adem\ue1s de los controles tradicionales con machete y escardilla. Se utiliz\uf3 un dise\uf1o completamente aleatorizado con cinco r\ue9plicas y unidades experimentales de 15 plantas. Los herbicidas no ocasionaron da\uf1o al cultivo ni afectaron su crecimiento (P=3D0,01). Se concluy\uf3 desde el punto de vista del control, que el mejor tratamiento fue oxyfluorfen el cual permiti\uf3 mantener el cultivo libre de competencia por aproximadamente 90 d\uedas en comparaci\uf3n con 50 d\uedas en los controles tradicionales. ABSTRACT Weed control by herbicides and mechanical methods on early stage of coffee plantations During the first two years after coffee planting abundant weed control is needed to keep the plantation free of competing plants, which causes high costs and labor time. With the objective of searching for alternative control methods an experiment was performed to evaluate the use of herbicides in a 6 month-old plantation located in Bram\uf3n, T\ue1chira, Venezuela. Treatments were oxyfluorfen 960 g a.i./ha, and napropamida 2 kg a.i./ha, both diluted in 880 L of water applied with a pack sprayer. Additionally, the traditional weed control using machete and back hoe were evaluated. A completely randomized design with five replications and 15 plants per plot were used. The herbicides did not cause damage to the crop, nor affected the growth of the plants (P=3D0.01). Oxyfluorfen was the best treatment in maintaining the crop free of weeds for about 90 days as compared to 50 days by the traditional controls