Weed infestation of spring common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown in monoculture depending on the cover crop and weed control method

Abstract

The aim of this 3-year field study was to evaluate the effect of some stubble crops and in-crop weed control methods on the species composition, number and air-dry weight of weeds in a wheat crop grown in short-term monoculture. The study was conducted in the period 2009-2011 in the Uhrusk Experimental Farm on mixed rendzina soil classified as very good rye soil complex. It included various types of stubble crops ploughed in each year (control treatment without cover crop, white mustard, lacy phacelia, a mixture of legumes – narrow-leaf lupin + field pea) and methods of weed control in spring wheat (mechanical, mechanical and chemical, chemical weed control). On average during the study period, all stubble crops used reduced the air-dry weight of weds in the treatments with mechanical weed management relative to the control treatment. Irrespective of the weed control method, the number of weeds in the wheat crop was significantly lower only after the ploughing in of white mustard. Mechanical weed management proved to be less effective in reducing the number and dry weight of weeds compared to other weed control methods. The white mustard and legume mixture cover crops had a reducing effect on the number of weed species in relation to the treatment without cover crops. The highest floristic diversity of weed communities was found in the spring wheat crop in which only mechanical weeding alone was used.