Chemical control of Prosopis farcta (Banks and Sol.) Macbride in the Jordan Valley

Syrian mesquite, Prosopis farcta (Banks and Sol.) Macbride, is a nuisance, rhizomatous perennial weed dominating an important part of productive agricultural land in the Jordan Valley. It tolerates traditional methods of weed control such as soil solarization and mechanical methods. Two field experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of different herbicides against this weed on cultivated land in the Jordan Valley during the 1998/1999 growing season. Several herbicides were evaluated including glyphosate, mecoprop, 2,4-D amine and ester, trichlopyr, paraquat, oxyfluorfen, bromoxynil and MCPA as individual treatments, mixtures or sequences. All treatments except the bromoxynil/MCPA mixture reduced P. farcta growth. Trichlopyr, 2,4-D ester and glyphosate followed by paraquat were the best in affecting weed recovery. Results indicated that control of P. farcta during a fallow period may be effectively achieved by two or more applications of some of the tested translocated herbicides such as trichlopyr, 2,4-D and glyphosate.