PERSISTENCE OF SIMAZINE APPLIED ANNUALLY IN PROLONGED ABSENCE OF SOIL CULTIVATION

Summary. Successive bioassays during 1966 and 1967 showed that simazine degradation reached 80% in 11 and 22i weeks, respectively, in soil from the 0–2 in. horizon of a gooseberry experiment to which simazine had been applied annually in the absence of soil cultivation from 1960. Where an annual farmyard‐manure mulch was also applied, the same loss of residual activity was reached in 10 and 20 weeks. This mulch initially reduced the simazine level rapidly compared to that of unmulched soil, but the subsequent rates of degradation were similar. The rate of simazine degradation depended more on environmental conditions each year than on soil type. The results indicate that an annual simazine degradation in excess of 80% can be expected in Loughgall soils in conditions of non‐tillage. Even if simazine applications continued indefinitely at an annual dose of 20 Ib/ac–the current dose in the gooseberry experiment–a large residue accumulation could not occur with or without a mulch. Persistance de la simazine appliquée annuellement en l'absence prolongée de façons culturales Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved