CONTROL OF WEEDS IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES -OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Purpose of proj was to research the tropical weed control problem and disseminate findings to interested agencies & individuals. This eval was prepared by the contractor. OSU resrch comprised the following activities: 1) new herbicide testing -- use & dosages for over 30 crops; 2) annual screening of new herbicides; 3) testing of the herbicide "Ambien" under tropical conditions; 4) resrch on the use of urea fertilizer as a carrier for 2,4-D herbicide for weed control in rice; 5) advanced resrch on 3 new herbicides for use with direct-seeded rice; 6) control of wood plants in Hawaiian pastures & range lands; 7) seed pelleting as an approach to herbicide selectivity in dir-seeded rice; 8) indexing of commercial herbicides for trop & temperate pasture legumes & grasses; 9) trop sorghum & corn weed control problems; 10) weed control in taro grown under paddy & upland conditions. OSU also assisted local counterparts & their instits in weed resrch. The above resrch resulted in the prep & distrib to resrchrs of 51 publications in English & 35 in Spanish. Some of the more important publicatns are: an annual report in which promising new herbicides are listed for the most important crops; a series of manuals & a periodic newsletter on herbicides, applicatn eqpmnt, resrch techniques, etc; ident books on cool climate & trop weeds; the ICA-sponsored "Weed Control Recommendation Bulletins". OSU also set up a computerized info retrieval sys to answer queries on weed control from USAID"s agr exper stations & other interested parties. OSU resrchrs working in Latin Amer trained 29 contrprts in resrch & utilization techniques, helped to establish & operate 12 resrch stations, and trained 8 exten weed control specialists. A series of weed control field days was organized at various resrch facils throughout Colombia, attracting over 1000 farmers, extentionists & resrchrs. The establishmnt of several weed control societies (eg, Colombian Weed Society, Latin Amer Weed Soc, Asian-Pacific Weed Soc) was assisted by this project.