Field experiments were conducted to investigate rice -Echinochloa crus-galli and rice -Eleocharis kuroguwai competition under transplanted rice cultivation in four major rice production areas; Suwon, Daejeon, Iksan, and Naju in Korea. Rice yield data were used to predict rice yield as a function of plant densities of E. crus-galli and E. kuroguwai using a rectangular hyperbola and to determine economic threshold (ET) levels of the weeds. Both weed species significantly reduced number of tillers at early rice growth stage, resulting in significant reduction in number of spikes, and the other yield components such as number of grains, maturity and 1,000-grain weight at later growth stage. The weed competitivity represented by parameter ranged from 0.0145 to 0.0346 for E. crus-galli and from 0.0037 to 0.0187 for E. kuroguwai, indicating that the competition effect of E. crus-galli on rice yield was slightly greater than that of E. kuroguwai. The ET values of E. crus-galli were between 0.298 and 1.078 plants m -2 , while those of E. kuroguwai were between 0.848 and 5.298 plants m -2 , depending on weed competitivity and herbicide price. Therefore, our results can be used to support decision-making on herbicide application for E. crus-galli and E. kuroguwai management in transplanted rice cultivation.

Summary The effects of herbicide dose on rice‐weed competition were investigated to develop a combined model, which can be utilised to estimate an optimum herbicide dose for a given weed density in paddy rice cultivation. Field studies were conducted in Suwon for rice‐Echinochloa crus‐galli competition and Iksan for rice‐Eleocharis kuroguwai during 2007. The competitive effect of the weeds E. crus‐galli and E. kuroguwai decreased with increasing doses of flucetosulfuron and azimsulfuron, respectively, in the same manner as the standard dose–response curve. The combination of the rectangular hyperbolic model and the standard dose–response curve adequately described the complex effects of herbicide dose and weed competition on rice yield. Parameter estimates were used with the model to predict rice yield and estimate the doses of flucetosulfuron and azimsulfuron required to restrict rice yield loss caused by E. crus‐galli and E. kuroguwai, respectively, to an acceptable level. For a rice yield of 5.0 t ha−1, the model recommended flucetosulfuron doses of 8.7, 13.4 and 20.1 g a.i. ha−1 when infested with E. crus‐galli at 12, 24 and 48 plants m−2 respectively. For a rice yield of 5.2 t ha−1, the model recommended azimsulfuron doses of 3.9, 7.5 and 12.6 g a.i. ha−1 when infested with E. kuroguwai at 24, 48 and 96 plants m−2 respectively. The theoretical outputs of the combined model appear robust and indicate there are opportunities for reduced herbicide use in the field. These now require evaluation under field conditions.

Field experiments were conducted to investigate the competition relationships of main paddy weeds with transplanted rice grown in paddy conditions. Data were used to predict crop yield as a function of weed density using a rectangular hyperbola model and determine weed economic threshold (ET) levels.The rectangular hyperbola (equation 2) was fitted to rice yield to estimate weed-free rice yield (Y o ) and weed competitivity (β). Its competitivity for M. vaginalis was 0.0007445, 0.0005713, 0.000988 and 0.0008846 in Daejeon, Suwon, Iksan and Naju, respectively. The competitivity at harvest represented by parameter β ranged from 0.001611 in Naju to 0.002437 in Iksan for S. trifolia. The ET levels of main paddy weeds in machine transplanted rice cultivation were well estimated based on the herbicides applied and its application cost. Therefore, our results can be used to support decision-making on herbicide application for weed management in transplanted rice cultivation.

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