Weeds in the cotton growing areas in the Southeastern Anatolia Region

Abstract

The Southeast Anatolia Region plays an important role, as it accounts for around sixty percent of Türkiye's cotton production. One of the most important factors limiting cotton cultivation is weeds. The aim of this study was to determine the weed species, their frequency and population density in the cotton growing areas of the Southeast Anatolia region. For this purpose, surveys were conducted in 152 cotton growing areas in Diyarbakır, Mardin and Şanlıurfa provinces in 2020 and 2021. The surveys were conducted using the segmented sampling method. As a result of the studies, 43 weed species belonging to 16 families were identified. When the weed species found in cotton are evaluated by family, the Poaceae family ranks first with 7 species, followed by Asteraceae with 6 species, Euphorbiaceae and Amaranthaceae with 5 species. redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.), field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.), purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.), jungle rice (Echinochloa colonum (L.) Link), ground cherry (Physalis spp.), common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.), black night shade (Solanum nigrum L.), johnson grass [Sorghum halepense (L.). Pers] and common cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium L.) were identified as the most common weed species. These weeds are widespread in many summer crops, especially in cotton. The development of effective management methods against these weeds in cotton will contribute to higher yields.