Department of Agronomy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003, India.
Safeners are chemical compounds that protect crop plants from herbicide injury. They are also referred as antidotes or protectants. Naphthalic anhydride (NA) is the first commercial herbicide antidote developed by USA. Marketed safeners are members of diverse chemical groups. Herbicide safeners act either at a common target site or influence the amount of herbicide that reaches its target site in an active form. Safener reduces the phytotoxicity on crop. The other organic amendments the protect from herbicidal injury are FYM, activated carbon, and activated charcoal. This paper reviews role of protectants in chemical weed management in crop production.
