The effect of growing mixtures of spring barley cultivars on pest occurrence and yields

Abstract

ABSTRACT . Experiments were conducted in the 2010 and 2011 growing seasons at two locations differing in their edaphic and meteorological conditions to assess the effects of mixtures of spring barley cultivars on the occurrence of harmful pests and yields. The most significant pests in the experiment on spring barley in pure sowings and mixtures were cereal leaf beetles (Oulema spp.), with bird cherry-oat aphids (Rhopalosiphum padi) and grain aphids (Sitobion avenae) being somewhat fewer in number. With some mixtures, numbers of cereal leaf beetle larvae, bird cherryoat aphids and grain aphids in comparison with pure stands were reduced. Grain yields from mixtures increased in comparison with those from pure sowings up to 6.48 dt·ha-1 in 2010 and up to 3.99 dt ha-1 in 2011.