Completed projects and reports

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Sugar Research Australia, Sugar Research Development Corporation and BSES reports from completed research projects and papers.

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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Efficacy and environmental runoff impact of alternative pre-emergent herbicides to diuron applied on trash blanketed ratoons
    (ASSCT, 2018) Fillols, E; Lewis, S; Davis, A
    THE EFFICACY OF alternative pre-emergent herbicides to diuron applied just after harvest on green trash blanketed ratoons was investigated in three field trials in the wet tropics, Far North Queensland. The study also compared the losses of the tested pre-emergent herbicides in runoff using rainfall simulations. The commercially available pre emergent herbicide Bobcat-i-MAXX (imazapic + hexazinone), was as efficient as Barrage (diuron + hexazinone), while other tested active ingredients like imazapic, isoxaflutole and amicarbazone were effective only on some weed species. All tested herbicides were found in runoff water at levels aligned with their application rate. Herbicides applied at lower application rates such as imazapic and isoxaflutole had minimal environmental runoff footprints when compared with diuron. All tested alternatives were proven more environmentally friendly than diuron
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    Investigation of mangrove dieback Pioneer River Estuary, Mackay
    (2002) Kirkwood, A; Dowling, R
    This report discusses the results of an investigation to establish a potential cause of the mangrove dieback that has occurred within the Pioneer River estuary and Bassett Basin, Mackay, Central Queensland from 1998 to 2001. Only one mangrove species, Avicennia marina, is apparently affected by dieback within this area. The principal objective of this study was to assess the hypothesis that a flood event and subsequent deposition of mud and silt in the mangrove communities was a likely cause of the dieback. This report refutes the argument that the most likely cause of the dieback is herbicide (diuron and ametryn) use within the Pioneer River catchment. Observations of mangrove communities in the Pioneer River estuary made by one of the authors in 2001 indicated that large amounts of mud and silt had been deposited in the estuary and had buried Avicennia marina pneumatophores in dieback areas. Burial of pneumatophores is a commonly reported cause of Avicennia spp. dieback in other parts of Australia and overseas. Recent and historical aerial photographs of the Pioneer River estuary were examined to determine the temporal and spatial extent of the current mangrove dieback and any past dieback events within the estuary. The current dieback event appears to have commenced no earlier than June 1998 and was clearly visible in November 1999 photographs. Other historical cases of mangrove dieback in the estuary have been documented. Flood records from 1884 to 2000 at Mackay were examined and found to correlate with the onset of the present dieback event. As a result of this analysis, an unseasonal flood event in August 1998 was deemed to be a likely cause of the current dieback. Rainfall and stream height data for 1998, especially for August of that year, were analysed to determine the source of these floodwaters. Intense rainfall had occurred across the whole catchment over a three day period in late August 1998, resulting in high river flows across the catchment and within the Pioneer River estuary. Examination of aerial photographs of the Brisbane River, Queensland, revealed that a major flood in 1974 had caused similar mangrove dieback in that river, most likely by depositing mud and silt in the mangrove communities.
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    Herbicide phytotoxicity screening Central; Southern Queensland varieties 1989 season
    (1990) Bridger, KW
    This report summarised the results of the three sugarcane phytotoxicity trials conducted on the Sugar Experiment Station, Bundaberg during 1989. Twelve approved, or promising varieties, from the central and southern districts were oversprayed with a total of 33 herbicides x crop growth stage treatments. Visual assessments of effect were carried out over a period of up to 142 days following spraying. The results of these trials should be taken as a guide only due to variations in weather pattern and microclimate from district to district.
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    Herbicide efficacy screen North Queensland 1986 season
    (BSES, 1987) Williams, RC
    In 1984 a wide range of herbicide treatments were evaluated against a number of weed species. Results demonstrated the weakness and strengths of various products, and the optimum timing of application. To further improve the knowledge of currently registered herbicides and of those which may have some potential for use in cane, another series of trials were laid down in 1986.
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    Development of a method to aid decision making on herbicide use for Australian Canegrowers : SRDC final report BSS186
    (BSES, 2001) O'Grady, T; Murphy, T
    This project successfully met its objectives. It demonstrated the strong competition effect weed growth has on the yield of sugarcane, developed a robust protocol for the rapid assessment of cane variety reaction to herbicides, and produced a decision aid for growers in the form of a herbicide manual.The importance of controlling weeds in the early crop growth stage of sugarcane was highlighted in all regions from Innisfail to Bundaberg. In trials, it was shown that weed growth early in the crop establishment phase causes significant loss in cane yield of the order of 13% to 50% depending on the period of competition, the weed population and the climatic conditions. Of particular note was the potential crop loss due to weed growth in the first four weeks following emergence of the cane plant. Losses from weed competition were similar over the 1997/98 and 1998/99 seasons.The concept of approaching weed control in young plant cane from the stance of accepting an economic threshold of weed infestation was not achieved. As rainfall has a major influence on windows of opportunity for spraying activity, and therefore the potential for uncontrolled weed growth to influence cane yield, growers are unprepared to accept the potential risk. Growers' attitudes to weed control were assessed through focus groups. They expressed a good qualified, but not quantified, knowledge of weed competition effects. Project results will overcome this deficiency. Growers expressed valid reasons for embracing a zero tolerance to weeds in young plant cane (see section 4.3.1) and why a quadrat would be unsuitable as a decision aid tool (section 3.3.2.2.).A robust technique to evaluate rapidly the phytotoxic effect of herbicides on sugarcane varieties was developed. The technique is valuable because previous methods (large-scale field trials) were resource intensive, subject to a large number of uncontrollable variables, costly and took up to 15 months to complete. The technique was tested over two seasons of trials and is now being used from Tully to Bundaberg as a standard component of the BSES process to develop new sugarcane cultivars. It involves spraying sugarcane setts growing in pots at the 3-4 leaf stage with the candidate herbicides and measuring tillering, shoot elongation and biomass. The completion of trials by 10 weeks allows for the rapid assessment of new herbicides and varieties in a much shorter time frame.The success of the weed competition trials in plant cane resulted in the production of a 'slide-rule' to provide growers with an indication of potential crop and income losses resulting from weed competition. The slide-rule gives a crop yield and income loss for a range of sugar prices and weed-free periods. This brings to growers' attention the magnitude of potential loss due to weeds and has assisted growers with decisions on weed control.A comprehensive manual, intended as the main decision aid tool for canegrowers when making decisions on weed control, was developed, printed and provided to the canegrowing community. It is durable, in a format that allows regular updates, and covers herbicide selection at various stages of growth of the crop, herbicide information and application techniques.