Browsing by Subject "Undersown crop"

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    Weed suppression with cover crops and undersown crops in modern cropping systems
    (2014) Brust, Jochen; Gerhards, Roland
    The agronomic situation in Germany is characterized by a reduction of crop diversity within crop rotations, which is mainly a consequence of present economic conditions. This results in rare change between fall and spring seeded crops, combined with increasing weed populations. The integration of cover crops and undersown crops into such cropping systems could be a step to reduce the amount of herbicides during crop cultivation but also within a fallow period. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of cover crop and undersown crop cultivation on arable farming systems from the perspective of weed science. Furthermore it should be clarified in which way it is possible to integrate cover crops and undersown crops in intensive cropping systems. Within the cover crop topic this was done by the search for new cover crop species which are suitable for cultivation in Central Europe to expand the range of available cover crop species for lots of cropping situations and site conditions. Additionally the weed suppression ability of different cover crop species in fall and spring was analyzed to determine if it is possible to avoid a mechanical or chemical weed control prior seeding the next cash crop. Within the undersown crop topic the influence of different management practices on growth of undersown crop as well as growth and yield formation of the main crop was investigated. Furthermore, it was researched if it is possible to achieve a suppression of weeds by undersown crops. The conducted experiments relating the cover crop topic showed that from the new cover crop species especially tartary buckwheat, forage radish and lopsided oat are well suited for cultivation. The shoot and root growth of weeds could be effectively reduced by the successful establishment of a cover crop stand in fall. In plots of competitive cover crops like yellow mustard, oilseed radish, tartary buckwheat and lopsided oat, no further growth of weeds and volunteer cereals occurs after the first measurement in fall four weeks after cover crop planting. The weed-suppressing effect of cover crop cultivation was measurable not only in fall during growth, but also in spring after freezing of cover crops. Especially in plots of late freezing cover crop species like oilseed radish and phacelia only a very reduced plant density or even no living weeds and volunteer grains were observed. The conducted experiments relating the undersown crop topic demonstrate that it is possible to integrate undersown crops in high yielding cereal cropping systems without decreasing growth and yield formation of the main crop. During the four conducted field experiments, a reduction in grain yield was only observed when perennial ryegrass was seeded at the three leaves stage of spring wheat and grew under sufficient nitrogen conditions. The study shows that undersown crops are able to reduce weed density during main crop growth. However, the habitus of weeds was an important factor influencing the weed suppression ability of undersown crops. Undersown crops were able to reduce the density of small growing weed species such as Veronica persica while density of high-growing weeds like Chenopodium album were not affected. The experiments in this study offer that is possible to successfully integrate cover crops and undersown crops into modern agricultural systems without reducing their productivity. Furthermore it was demonstrated that due to the cultivation of cover crops and undersown crops it is possible to control the growth of weeds not only during but also between cash crop vegetation. By these methods, under certain conditions a reduction of the required amount of herbicides is possible, which can be a contribution to a more sustainable food production.