The era of glyphosate in orchard weeding has begun.

Paraquat delisted, glyphosate issues highlighted
In July 2016, paraquat was completely delisted, leaving a gap for herbicide products in orchards, and many people chose glyphosate as a substitute. However, in recent years, it has been found that the amount of glyphosate used has increased significantly, with rising costs year by year, while the weeding effect has noticeably declined.
As a commonly used herbicide, glyphosate can easily lead to the emergence of resistant weeds such as Johnson grass, small fleabane, and knotgrass in the fields with long-term use; glyphosate achieves its passivation and degradation through trace elements in the soil, which reduces the content of trace elements in the soil during this process, easily causing 'deficiency symptoms' in fruit trees, and reducing their disease resistance and stress resistance. Additionally, due to the 'cutting grass at the roots' characteristic of glyphosate, long-term use in mountainous areas can easily lead to soil erosion and even mudslides, especially evident in the hilly areas of the Three Gorges region.
In fruit tree areas, it is more concerning that glyphosate has a long half-life and residual period, and excessive use can lead to soil residues, causing hidden drug damage and damage to subsequent crops. Moreover, due to its strong systemic absorption, if there is misapplication or drift during weeding, it can cause serious damage to the root system of fruit trees, leading to hidden drug damage such as yellowing, fruit drop, and leaf drop.
Dual phosphonates compete in the market, what should be used for weeding in orchards?
Manual weeding is too expensive, and weeds compete for nutrients with navel oranges and must be removed. Xiong Xingping believes: "After the delisting of paraquat, orchard weeding has entered the era of ammonium glyphosate."
Compared to glyphosate, ammonium glyphosate, as a new generation herbicide, has multiple advantages: First, ammonium glyphosate is a non-conductive contact herbicide with poor systemic effect; Second, ammonium glyphosate is easy to degrade, has a short residual period, and is safe for subsequent crops; Third, ammonium glyphosate works faster, with effects visible in about 3 days, and has a long-lasting effect; Fourth, ammonium glyphosate is more effective against glyphosate-resistant weeds such as Johnson grass and small fleabane; Fifth, after entering the soil, ammonium glyphosate is degraded by microorganisms, and dead grass can effectively improve soil fertility without causing deficiency symptoms.