Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
Field and laboratory experiments were conducted in 1977 and 1978 to evaluate the movement and persistence in soil of metriflufen {methyl ester of 2-[4-(4-trifluoromethylphenoxy)phenoxy] propanoic acid} under different conditions. In the field, delaying incorporation of metriflufen did not affect its activity in Taloka silt loam for either year as shown by bioassay with grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. Metriflufen activity in the soil persisted for 63 and 40 days after application in 1977 and 1978, respectively. In the laboratory, metriflufen moved through saturated soil columns to an average depth of 7.5 and 18.5 cm following the addition of 2.5 or 10 cm of water to the columns. In a growth chamber bioassay, grain sorghum growth in treated soil gave a dose-response in a range of 0.02 ppmw (I10), 0.09 ppmw (I50), and 0.38 ppmw (I90). When soil treated with metriflufen at 1 ppmw was incubated for specified times under soil moisture levels of 5, 15, or 25% and temperature regimes of 15, 25, or 35 C, soil incubated at 15 C for as long as 75 days completely inhibited grain sorghum growth regardless of the other treatment variables. Grain sorghum growth inhibition was reduced with incubation time and warmer temperatures for treated soil maintained at 5 and 15% moisture, but sorghum growth inhibition persisted for treated soil incubated under wet (25% moisture) conditions.