Search for Herbicidal Antidotes for Sugar Beet Plants
Modern system of sugar beet cultivation pays special attention to crop protection against weeds with the help of herbicides. Despite its selectivity, sugar beet plants experience stress from the use of herbicides, which leads to yield losses. One way to reduce the phytotoxicity of herbicides on crops is to use antidotes. The aim of this work is to screen herbicidal antidotes for vegetative sugar beet plants. For the search, a number of 2-alkylthionicotinonitrile derivatives was synthesized. Based on the results of laboratory screening, we identified potentially active substances that were tested in the field in 2017–2019. Antidotes were applied to sugar beet plants in the phase of 4–6 true leaves along with a tank mixture of herbicides. In the course of the experiment, we found that the use of new substances at a dose of 20 and 40 g/ha provided a significant and reliable increase in sugar beet yield compared to the herbicidal control (–6.3–11.9%). Their use positively influenced the formation of such biometric indicators as plant height, number, mass and area of leaves, size and mass of root vegetables. The photosynthetic activity of plants also increased. Qualitative indicators of root vegetables (sugar content) exceeded the similar ones not only in the herbicidal standard, but also in the control. Thus, the determined compounds can be used as active substances to develop new herbicidal antidotes.