Leafy and semi-leafless field pea competition with winter wild oat as affected by weed density

Abstract

A 2-year field study was conducted in northern Greece using one leafy, long vine length (‘Olympus’) and one semi-leafless, short vine length (‘Hardy’) field pea ( Pisum sativum L.) cultivars to determine their ability to compete with winter wild oat (or animated oat) [ Avena sterilis spp. ludoviciana (Durieu) Gill & Magne]. Winter wild oat stems and dry biomass were increased with increasing weed density from 35 to 210 plants/m 2. Stem number and dry biomass of both field pea cultivars were decreased by 19–55% due to the competition of winter wild oat. However, the cv. ‘Olympus’ provided greater ability to compete and ability to withstand competition of winter wild oat than the cv. ‘Hardy’. In particular, stem number and dry biomass of winter wild oat grown in competition with the cv. ‘Olympus’ were 16–46% lower than those in competition with the cv. ‘Hardy’. In weed-free treatments, seed yield of cv. ‘Hardy’ was by 37% greater than that of cv. ‘Olympus’. However, in weedy treatments, pod number or seed yield losses of cv. ‘Olympus’ were up to 20% or 26%, respectively, lower than those of cv. ‘Hardy’. The results indicated that winter wild oat was a strong competitor against field pea. However, leafy, long vine length field pea had greater ability to suppress winter wild oat and should be used in sustainable production fields infected by this weed.