ASSESSMENT OF HERBICIDE IMAZAMOX PHYTOTOXICITY IN SOIL USING DIFFERENT BIOASSAY METHODS
The study of phytotoxicity of imidazolinone herbicide imazamox in soils of various types has been performed by means of laboratory bioassay techniques. The accuracy of the method of seedlings in soil did not depend on the used response and was 5% at an average, what allowed characterizing accuracy as good. The accuracy of the laboratory-vegetative method of bioassay related greatly to the used response and varied from 7% to more than 10% when the shoots’ length or fresh biomass were used; in the latter case, the accuracy of the method was char- acterized as unsatisfactory, and so biomass could not be recommended as an indicator for imazamox bioassay. Based on the comparison of the metrological characteristics of the examined bioassay techniques and taking into account the great labor- and time consumption of pot vegetation experiments, bioassay with seedlings seems can be recommended for the preliminary determination of imazamox in the soils. Phytotoxicity of the imazamox in soils was demonstrated to decrease along with increasing contents of organic matter and clay apparently due to adsorption of the herbicide on these soil components.