Summary of the work:

Émeline’s experiments focus on determining a newly selected cultivar’s resistance to herbicides, using chlorophyll fluorescence measurement. To this end, she measures the fluorescence and notes visual damages, which serve as indicators of the strawberry plants’ resistance. Thus, she can note if any change in fluorescence can be detected before visual symptoms are observed on the leaves.
Five different cultivars are used for this experiment: Aromas, Chambly, Harmonie, Kent, La clé des champs, and Seascape. Four treatments are administered, each containing different dosages of herbicide:

• one control treatment with no herbicide;

• one treatment containing 0.048 g/L of herbicide, corresponding to a dosage of 0.55 kg/ha;

• one treatment containing 0.096 g/L of herbicide, corresponding to a dosage of 1.10 kg/ha; and

• one treatment containing 0.192 g/L of herbicide, corresponding to a dosage of 2.20 kg/ha.

Émeline works with 4- to 6-week-old plants in their planting year. The herbicide used is terbacil, for which the recommended dosage for plants of this age falls between 0.28 and 0.55 kg/ha.
She measures the fluorescence before applying the herbicide and then again at 24 hours, 72 hours, 3 days, 7 days and 14 days after application. She also monitors visually apparent damage on the leaves.
Kent is a terbacil-sensitive cultivar, while Chambly is terbacil-resistant. The response of these two cultivars to various dosages of the herbicide provides a benchmark from which to situate the other cultivars. These experiments will therefore make it possible to determine the cultivars’ resistance to herbicides as well as the utility and effectiveness of the fluorescence measurement technique.

 

Address :
Émeline SAMY
Institut National Polytechnique
École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Toulouse
Avenue de l'Agrobiopole - Auzeville-Tolosane
BP 107- F 31326 Castanet-Tolosan Cedex
tél. : 33 (0)5 62 19 39 00 - fax : 33 (0)5 62 19 39 01 

The person in charge of the training course: Shahrokh Khanizadeh