Effects of long-term reduced tillage on weed infestation of pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Andrzej Woźniak,Myroslawa Soroka

doi:10.5586/aa.2014.029

Abstract

The study evaluated weed infestation of pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivated under conditions of conventional (CT), reduced (RT) and herbicide tillage (HT). It demonstrated the highest weed density per m2 in plots with the herbicide (HT) and reduced (RT) systems and significantly lower weed infestation in plots cultivated in the conventional system (CT). In addition, more weeds occurred at the third leaf stage (13/14 in BBCH scale) than at the pod development stage (73/74 BBCH) of pea. The highest biomass was produced by weeds in the herbicide system (HT), a lower one – in the reduced system (RT), and the lowest one – in the conventional system (CT). The air-dry weight of weeds depended also on pea development stage. At the pod development stage (73/74 BBCH), the air-dry weight of weeds was significantly higher than at the third leaf stage (13/14 BBCH). The tillage system was also observed to influence the species composition of weeds. This trait was also affected by the period of weed infestation assessment. At the third leaf stage of pea (13/14 BBCH), there occurred 26 weed species, including 24 annual ones. The most abundant species included: Chenopodium album L., Stellaria media (L.) Vill., Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Med., Matricaria inodora L., Thlaspi arvense L., and Fallopia convolvulus (L.) A. Löve. At the pod development stage (73/74 BBCH), the pea crop was colonized by 24 weed species, including 3 perennial ones. At this stage the predominant species included: Avena fatua L., Amaranthus retroflexus L., Papaver rhoeas L., Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P.B., Matricaria inodora L., and Galeopsis tetrahit L.

Highlights

Weed infestation of crops results from the coeffects of agronomic practices and the soil seed bank
The highest weed density per m2 was determined in the plots with the herbicide (HT) and reduced (RT) tillage systems, whereas significantly lower weed density – by 47.6–48.7% – was found under the conventional system (CT) – Table 1
At the first time of weed infestation assessment, a significantly higher number of weeds occurred in the plots cultivated under the reduced (RT) and herbicide (HT) systems in relation to the conventional one (CT)

Summary

Objectives

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of long-term reduced tillage on the number and air-dry weight of weeds and on their species composition in a pea crop at the third true leaf (13/14 in BBCH scale) and pod development (73/74 BBCH) stages of pea

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion