Phalaris minor seedbank studies: longevity, seedling emergence and seed production as affected by tillage regime

Abstract

SummaryStudies were conducted to investigate seed longevity, seedling emergence and seed production of the weed Phalaris minor in wheat in northern India. The longevity of P. minor seeds buried in bags in the field was often limited to less than 1 year, although many seeds buried at 30 cm depth in a rice–wheat rotation remained viable for longer. The application of direct seeding in wheat reduced the seedling emergence rate of P. minor, when compared with conventional ploughing and sowing. However, a larger P. minor seedbank in the upper soil layer in plots under direct seeding partly reversed this positive effect in one of the two studies. Besides differences in relative distribution of weed seeds through the soil profile, it was likely that other factors such as reduced soil disturbance and soil characteristics associated with the application of direct seeding were also involved in regulating the emergence rate. Mature P. minor plants in wheat were found to invest a stable part (27%) of their aboveground biomass in seed, so that total seed weight was strongly linearly correlated with the aboveground biomass of the mother plant. Individual seed weight, however, was little affected by the weight of the mother plant.