To reduce the cost of intensive herbicide application and environment pollution and enhance biological effectiveness, effective multifunction adjuvants should be used. A field study was conducted in 2017-2019 in midwestern Poland in order to assess the effects of new adjuvant formulations on the activity of herbicides. Treatments included the herbicide nicosulfuron at recommended (40 g ha-1) and reduced rates (28 g ha-1) alone and with the addition of tested MSO 1, MSO 2, and MSO 3 (differing in the type and amount of surfactants), as well as standard (MSO 4 and NIS) adjuvants. Nicosulfuron was applied once during the 3-5 leaf stage of maize. Results indicate that nicosulfuron with the tested adjuvants provided satisfactory weed control equivalent to that provided by standard MSO 4 and better than that provided by NIS. Nicosulfuron applied with the tested adjuvants led to a similar grain yield of maize as that achieved with standard adjuvant treatments and much higher than that measured in untreated crops.
Keywords: maize; multifunctional adjuvants; nicosulfuron; weed control.