Zidua for Morningglory Control in Field Corn (Prostko)

At the last few grower meetings that I attended this winter, I was asked a few questions about the effectiveness of Zidua (pyroxasulfone) for annual morningglory control in field corn.  Most, if not all, of my data with this herbicide is on annual grass and Palmer amaranth control.  Thus, I must rely on my colleagues around the country to see what they have observed.  Figure 1 is a summary of the morningglory control ratings for Zidua as published by different land-grant universities.  It is obvious from these ratings that Zidua is not considered to be an outstanding herbicide for the control of morningglory.  

With that said, I still think that Zidua can be an effective component of a field corn weed control program in Georgia (Figure 2). Growers who are interested in using Zidua in field corn should do so for the following reasons:

a) Zidua is a new herbicide. Its always fun to try something new and sometimes herbicides perform slightly differently on individual farms.  
b) For those concerned about atrazine and PPO resistance, Zidua offers an alternative mode of action.  Zidua is a very-long chain fatty acid inhibitor similar to Dual Magnum or Warrant.
c) Zidua provides good to excellent residual control of pigweed and most annual grasses. Zidua may be slightly more effective than Dual or Warrant on Texas panicum (buffalograss) but is less effective than Prowl or Sonalan.
d) Zidua is a low use rate product (1.5 oz/A).

More information about the use of Zidua in field corn can be obtained on page 140 of the 2014 UGA Commercial Pest Management Handbook.  

Figure 1.  Annual morningglory control ratings for Zidua.

Figure 2.  Weed control in field corn with Zidua (2013).