Essential oils as alternative of synthetic herbicides for horticultural crops

As the controversy behind synthetic herbicides grows, the search for efficient, sustainable and environmentally-friendly herbicides becomes more and more pressing.
This need is all the more present for horticultural crops where the number of herbicides is limited and their efficiency limited.
In this context, our study aimed to evaluate the post-emergence phytotoxicity of the formulated EO1 in greenhouse and field trials.
The two trials were realised at different doses against the weeds Lolium perenne and Trifolium incarnatum for the greenhouse trials and against several monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weeds for two consecutive years for field trials.
The herbicidal activity of EO1 was first confirmed in controlled conditions were the EO1 sprayed twice at highest concentration 2 N showed a phytotoxicity of 100% against dicotyledons and 89% against monocotyledons.
The high efficiency against dicotyledons was supported by the field trials where at concentration 2N sprayed twice, the phytotoxicity was comparable to the positive control with 98 and 100% phytotoxicity in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
The efficiency against monocotyledons in the field trials was more dependent on the dose and the year.
Overall, EO1 can be suggested as a potential environmentally-friendly alternative to synthetic post-emergence herbicides.

XXXI International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022): International Symposium on Sustainable Control of Pests and Diseases

B. Foncoux, S. Dal Maso, S. Ben Kaab, M.H. Jijakli

field trials, greenhouse trials, phytotoxicity, post-emergence, bioherbicide

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2023.1378.24