Competition of Amaranthus species with dry bean plants

Abstract

Weeds compete with field crops mainly for water, light and nutrients, and this competition is among other factors, a function of the occurrence of weed density, and the intrinsic competitive ability of each vegetal species. The objective of this research was to evaluate the competitive ability of five weed species of the Amaranthus L. genus (A. deflexus, A. hybridus, A. retroflexus, A. spinosus and A. viridis) with dry bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L. - 'Carioca Precoce' cultivar), using the replacement series design. A fixed total density equivalent to 80 plants m-2 was used in pots of 2.8 L capacity varying the proportions between the species in coexistence. To install the experiment, Amaranthus seedlings were transplanted to the pots at the phenological stage of completely expanded cotyledon leaves, while the crop was seeded. A factorial scheme (5 x 5) was used to carry out the experiment, consisting of five species of Amaranthus (pigweeds) and five species proportions (beans:pigweeds): 4:0, 3:1, 2:2, 1:3 and 0:4. Randomized blocks with four replicates were installed and the experiment was repeated twice. Dry bean plants were more competitive than each one of the five Amaranthus species when the species proportion was equivalent. A. deflexus and A. viridis were the weed species which phenology were less affected by the competition with dry bean; the intraspecific competition was more damaging for dry bean plants, suggesting that the damages caused by the weeds are more related to high density of infestation than to the intrinsic competitive ability of the species.