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> >>>> website) that dist At 7:58 PM -0400 2/16/08, David & Alison Webster wrote: > > I have no idea what may be used on Sunflower in Manitoba but if >it is Roundup then I would expect no adverse effect at all on birds >or humans. They don't give this stuff away and rates would be just >sufficient for contact injury, as a crude guess probably less than >one kg/active ingredient per ha. > I did a quick search for information on 'sunflower' and 'herbicide' and found an Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs page http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/pub75/12sunhar.htm#reglone that suggests Reglone (active ingredient: diquat) as a pre-harvest treatment of sunflowers "to reduce the period of time from maturity to harvest, to speed up harvesting, and decrease seed moisture at harvest." This seems more likely than Roundup to be used before harvest by Canadian producers of sunflower seed. (Other herbicides may be used earlier to control weeds competing with the sunflower plants.) Another page http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/notes/diquat.htm indicates that diquat may be used in a similar way in the production of canola (rapeseed), flax, dry beans, dry peas, mustard, soybeans, etc., and for top killing of potatoes, a lot of crops consumed by us. Diquat is reported to be "rapidly absorbed by foliage" but with "limited translocation" [to other parts, such as seeds and tubers, presumably]. "Residual Activity" is "essentially none due to adsorption of chemical to soil particles," but the persistence of the chemical and potential impacts on soil organisms, water and other parts of the ecosystem are not mentioned. -- David Christie Mary's Point, Harvey, Albert Co., New Brunswick, Canada http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/maryspt
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