ABSTRACT
Oat is an important alternative for growing winter crops in southern Brazil. However, high percentages of lodging limit oat yield. In this context, the use of growth regulators is an option to prevent lodging and to achieve higher productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of rates of the trinexapac-ethyl growth regulator on agronomic characteristics of oat, as well as its influence on physiological and health quality of seeds. An experiment was conducted under field conditions, where four doses of trinexapac-ethyl (0, 50, 100 and 150 g a.i. ha-1) were evaluated on plant height, stem diameter, percentage of lodging, and yield components. A second experiment was conducted in the laboratory, where seeds from the field study were evaluated for physiological quality based on the measurement of germination, first germination count, electrical conductivity, seedling length and weight, accelerated aging, cold test, speed germination rate, emergency speed rate, seedling dry matter in the field and health by using the "Blotter Test". The use of increasing rates of trinexapac-ethyl decreased quadratically the height as well the lodging of oat plants. The rate of 100 g a.i. ha-1 of the growth regulator gave the best results for the yield components of Avena sativa. The use of trinexapac-ethyl adversely affects the germination and vigor of oat seeds, as well as their health, thus reducing the ability of establishment and initial development of the crop.
Keywords:
Avena sativa; trinexapac-ethyl; productive performance; germination; vigor; sanity
