The influence of agricultural practices on yield and weed infestation of winter triticale

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate grain yield and weed infestation of winter triticale grown in various cropping and tillage systems. The first order factor studied was the cropping systems (CS): (1) crop rotation A (CR-A): peas – winter barley – winter triticale; (2) crop rotation B (CR-B): lupin – winter wheat – winter triticale; and (3) winter triticale monoculture (MON). The second order factor included tillage systems (TS): (a) conventional (CT); (b) reduced (RT); and (c) no-tillage (NT). A significantly higher triticale grain yield was recorded in CR-A and CR-B than in MON, and also in CT than in RT and NT, due to higher spike number per 1 m2, grain weight per spike, and 1000 grain weight. The weed community formed in triticale crop was mainly represented by short-lived species. A higher weed number per 1 m2 was determined in CR-A and MON than in CR-B as well as in RT than in CT and NT. In turn, weeds produced a higher air-dry weight of weeds in MON than in CR-Aand CR-B, and also in RT than in CT and NT. The tillage system affected the weed contribution in particular levels of winter triticale crop, with the lower-level and middle-level species prevailing in CT and RT, and the middle-level and upper-level ones in NT.