Bread wheat performance, fusarium head blight incidence and weed infestation response to low-input conservation tillage systems in eastern Canada

Abstract

Munger, H., Vanasse, A., Rioux, S. and Legere, A. 2014. Bread wheat performance, fusarium head blight incidence and weed infestation response to low-input conservation tillage systems in eastern Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 193-201. Bread wheat performance, the incidence of diseases like fusarium head blight (FHB) and weed infestations may be affected by low-input systems and conservation tillage practices. This 2-yr study assessed the effects of three 24-yr-old tillage treatments (MP: moldboard plow; CP: chisel plow; NT: no-till) and two cropping systems (high-input: herbicide and mineral fertilizer; low-input: mechanical weed control and organic fertilizer) on wheat productivity, deoxynivalenol (DON) content, Fusarium graminearum inoculum production, and weed infestation in hard red spring wheat. In 2009, low-input CP and NT yields were 13 and 31% lower, respectively, than low-input MP yield, which was comparable with all of the high-input treatment yields. In 2010, yields were 23% lower in CP and NT ...