Effect of Fertiactyl^® on the absorption and translocation of ¹⁴C-glyphosate in young eucalyptus plants

Abstract

Fertiactyl^® is a foliar fertilizer with the potential to minimize the phytotoxicity effects caused by glyphosate drift in eucalyptus plants. As the interactions of the glyphosate and Fertiactyl^® in tank mix on the plant behavior are not yet known, the objective was to evaluate the absorption and translocation of ¹⁴C-glyphosate, applied isolated and mixed in tank with Fertiactyl^®, in young eucalyptus plants (clone I-144, Eucalyptus urophylla x E. grandis). The addition of Fertiactyl^® to the mixture of ¹⁴C-glyphosate reduced the absorption by 94.3% in relation to the total absorbed at the end of the evaluation compared to plants treated only with ¹⁴C-glyphosate, i.e., Fertiactyl^® protected the eucalyptus plants of the glyphosate intoxication by drift. The translocation rates from the treated leaves to the rest of the shoots and roots were low (<2% of the total recovered) in both treatments, suggest that restricted translocation is a mechanism of natural tolerance to glyphosate in plants of clone I-144. It is concluded that Fertiactyl^®, mixed in the solution with glyphosate, protects young eucalyptus plants against glyphosate drift by reducing the amount of herbicide absorbed.

Keywords:

• Antagonism
• herbicide drift
• phytointoxication
• safener
• tank mix

Acknowledgements

RCA thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for the financial support.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.