Interference of <i>Brachiaria brizantha</i> populations in yield of sugarcane cultivars

Abstract

The management of weeds should be conducted in a rational manner, taking into consideration the competitive ability of cultivars, which may be more or less affected by weeds. In this study the interference of Brachiaria brizantha populations was evaluated in sugarcane cultivars (RB72454, RB867515 e SP801816) to compare variables and estimate the stalks yield loss as a result of weed competition. For this, an experiment was conducted under field conditions, where the cultivars coexisted with different weed densities. The variables evaluated were: plant population, dry weight of shoots, ground cover and leaf area of B. brizantha. The stalks yield losses due to the interference of B. brizantha, can be satisfactorily estimated by the hyperbolic model which adjusted better for the variable plant population of B. brizantha. The cultivar SP801816 showed higher and the RB867515 lowest competitive ability.