Abstract
<p>Based on a 3-year field experiment conducted on medium heavy mixed rendzina soil, the present study evaluated the effect of chemical plant protection on the species composition, number and air-dry weight of weeds infesting crops of winter spelt wheat cultivars (‘Frankenkorn’, ‘Badengold’, ‘Schwaben- speltz’, and ‘Oberkulmer Rotkorn’) sown under ploughing and ploughless tillage systems. Ploughing tillage involved skim- ming done after harvest of the previous crop and pre-sowing ploughing, while in the ploughless tillage system ploughing was replaced with cultivating. Chemical weed control included the application of the herbicides Mustang 306 SE and Attribut 70 WG. Plots where the herbicides were not used were the control treatment. On average, from 21 to 30 weed species colonised the winter spelt wheat crops compared. <em>Galium aparine </em>and <em>Apera spica-venti </em>occurred in greatest numbers and their percentage in the total number of weeds was estimated at 26–35% and 17–25%, respectively. The cultivar ‘Frankenkorn’ was the least weed-infested. Both the number of weeds in the crop of this cultivar and their above-ground dry weight were lower compared to the other cultivars. The use of reduced tillage significantly increased the air-dry weight of weeds compared to ploughing tillage. Nevertheless, it should be indicated under ploughless tillage conditions the application of chemical crop protection reduced weed biomass by 59% compared to the control treatments without crop protection.</p>
Highlights
Due to high costs of conventional tillage, in recent years no-ploughing techniques have been gaining increasing importance
The cultivar ‘Frankenkorn’ was the least weed-infested. Both the number of weeds in the crop of this cultivar and their above-ground dry weight were lower compared to the other cultivars
It is advisable to investigate the nature of these changes for cognitive reasons, and for practical and economic reasons, since information on the relationships of particular weed species or communities with specific tillage systems can be of key importance in constructing weed management programmes [5, 6, 7]
Summary
Due to high costs of conventional tillage, in recent years no-ploughing techniques have been gaining increasing importance. Most frequently, they involve shallower ploughing or the complete elimination of the plough and replacing it with other implements [1]. In assessing weed infestation of winter wheat and winter triticale, Małecka et al [8] showed a higher number and weight of weeds in ploughed plots compared ploughless tillage. What is more, reduced tillage combined with monoculture cropping can result in a change from weed communities with a relatively high number of taxa to very simplified communities consisting of only several dominant species [4, 7]. According to Trzcińska - Tacik [11], the harmfulness of weed communities with low biodiversity and a quantitative prevalence of one or several weed species is often greater than that of a community consisting of a large number of taxa that occur in small numbers
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