Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:00:20.895Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Atrazine and Simazine Increase Yield and Quality of Range Forage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Burgess L. Kay*
Affiliation:
Dep. of Agron. and Range Sci., Univ. of California, Davis

Abstract

Application of 2-chloro-4-(ethylamino)-6-(isopropylamino)-s-triazine (atrazine) to intermediate wheatgrass (Agropyron intermedium (Host) Beauv.) increased forage yields, plant protein, and nitrate over a 4-year period. Atrazine or 2-chloro-4,6-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine (simazine) applied to a sward of red brome (Bromus rubens L.), Arabian grass (Schismus arabicus Nees.), and red-stem filaree (Erodium cicutarium (L.) L'Her.) increased dry-matter yields sixfold and also increased protein and nitrate nitrogen. Nitrate in plants treated with atrazine increased to near-toxic levels for livestock.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. 1960. Official Methods of Analysis. 9th ed. Washington, D.C. 832 p.Google Scholar
2. Eckert, R. E. Jr. and Evans, R. A. 1967. A chemical-fallow technique for control of downy brome and establishment of perennial grasses on rangelands. J. Range Manage. 20:3541.Google Scholar
3. Evans, R. A., Eckert, R. E., Kay, B. L., and Young, J. A. 1969. Downy brome control by soil-active herbicides for revegetation of rangelands. Weed Sci. 17:166169.Google Scholar
4. Johnson, C. M. and Ulrich, A. 1950. Determinations of nitrate in plant material. Anal. Chem. 22:15261529.Google Scholar
5. Kay, B. L. and McKell, C. M. 1963. Preemergence herbicides as an aid in seeding annual rangelands. Weeds 11:260264.Google Scholar
6. Ries, S. K., Chimel, H., Dilley, D. R., and Filner, P. 1967. The increase in nitrate reductase activity and protein content of plants treated with simazine. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. 58:526532.Google Scholar
7. Ries, S. K., Schweizer, C. J., and Chimel, H. 1968. The increase in protein content and yield of simazine-treated crops in Michigan and Costa Rica. BioScience 18:205208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Schweizer, C. J. and Ries, S. K. 1969. Protein content of seed: increase improves growth and yield. Science 165:7375.Google Scholar
9. Tucker, J. M., Cordy, D. R., Berry, L. J., Harvey, W. A., and Fuller, T. C. 1961. Nitrate poisoning in livestock. California Agr. Exp. Sta. Ext. Ser. Circ. 506. 12 p.Google Scholar