Field scale functional agrobiodiversity in organic wheat: Effects on weed reduction, disease susceptibility and yield

Costanzo, Ambrogio; Bàrberi, Paolo

doi:10.1016/j.eja.2016.01.012

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The number of weed species and weed density varied during the growth period of all three crops (winter wheat, common vetch and maize) and similar trends were also observed in almost all the treatments (T, NT, TS and NTS) within a crop. The similarity in the changes in weeds among the treatments is largely attributed to traits shared among the weeds, since weed growth is closely associated with the crop (Liebman and Dyck, 1993;Lemerle et al, 2001;Teasdale et al, 2004;Melander et al, 2005;Ryan et al, 2008;Andrew et al, 2015;Costanzo and Bàrberi, 2016). We also found minor treatment effects.…”

Section: Effect Of Crop Growth Stage On Weed Species Number and Weed supporting

confidence: 57%

“…But, in general, the effectiveness of stubbles on weed control is largely dependent on the density of stubbles (Moore et al, 1994;Reberg-Horton et al, 2012). The practice of crop rotation has traditionally been used in agriculture, as it affects weeds (Melander et al, 2005;Ryan et al, 2008) and weed seedbanks under conventional tillage (Cardina et al, 2002) that respond to specific crops and associated management practices (Liebman and Dyck, 1993;Lemerle et al, 2001;Teasdale et al, 2004;Melander et al, 2005;Ryan et al, 2008;Andrew et al, 2015;Costanzo and Bàrberi, 2016). The adoption of rotations in conjunction with conservation practices, such as reduced tillage and stubble retention, might increase the species diversity of weeds across the rotation (Kegode et al, 1999;Murphy et al, 2006;Nord et al, 2011) and reduce the abundance of weeds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Suppression of weeds and weed seeds in the soil by stubbles and no-tillage in an arid maize-winter wheat-common vetch rotation on the Loess Plateau of China

et al. 2018

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Reduced tillage provides ecological and economic benefits to arable land on the Loess Plateau of China, where soil erosion has long been a serious problem and soil water availability is largely restricted. However, high abundances of weeds in reduced tillage systems cause significant yield losses. In this study, we explored the effects of no-tillage and stubble retention on the number and density of weeds and weed seeds in a 12-year maize-winter wheat-common vetch rotation on the Loess Plateau. Four treatments including conventional tillage, no-tillage, conventional tillage+stubble retention and no-tillage+stubble retention were designed and applied. We found that no-tillage increased the number of weed species and weed density in most of the crops, while stubble retention decreased weed density in maize and tended to suppress weeds in both no-tillage treatments (no-tillage and no-tillage+stubble retention). No-tillage led to an increase in the number of weed species in the weed seedbank and tended to increase seed density during the spring growth of winter wheat, but it decreased seed density during post-vetch fallow. Stubble retention tended to reduce seed density during the spring growth of winter wheat and post-vetch fallow. We concluded that no-tillage can promote weeds in the experimental crop rotation, while stubble retention suppresses weeds in untilled fields. The combined effects of stubble retention and no-tillage on weed suppression varied among the three crops. Based on these results, we recommend stubble retention in untilled legume-crop rotations on the Loess Plateau to improve the control of weeds.

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Section: Effect Of Crop Growth Stage On Weed Species Number and Weed supporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suppression of weeds and weed seeds in the soil by stubbles and no-tillage in an arid maize-winter wheat-common vetch rotation on the Loess Plateau of China

et al. 2018

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“…This deviates from a number of studies that have reported reduced fungal disease severity with the use of green manures and living mulches; e.g. Costanzo and Barberi (2016) reported that the presence of legume living mulch reduced the severity of the wheat leaf spot complex by 37% in average, and Kosinski et al (2011) found that kura clover living mulch significantly reduced the development of barley leaf diseases. In a previous Norwegian study, the frequencies of net blotch infected barley seedlings were significantly reduced after soil amendments of grass and clover in a greenhouse experiment using two heavily infected seed lots (Brodal et al 2008).…”

Section: Strategycontrasting

confidence: 92%

Influence of mechanical weeding and fertilisation on perennial weeds, fungal diseases, soil structure and crop yield in organic spring cereals

Brandsæter

Mangerud

Andersson

et al. 2020

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Sc

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There is a need both in organic farming and on farms using integrated pest management for nonchemical measures that control the perennial weed flora. The effect of mechanical weeding and fertilisation on perennial weeds, fungal diseases and soil structure were evaluated in two different experiments in spring cereals. Experiment I included six strategies. The first strategy was (1) without specific measures against perennial weeds. The other strategies encompassed one or two seasonal control measures; (2) rhizome/root cutting with minimal soil disturbance in autumn, (3) hoeing with 24 cm row spacing, (4) combined hoeing and disc harrowing in autumn, (5) 'KvikUp' harrowing in spring, and (6) 'KvikUp' harrowing in spring and autumn. Experiment II included factor (i) inter-row hoeing and (ii) fertilisation level. This experiment included the comparison between normal row spacing (12 cm) with weed harrowing versus double row spacing (=24 cm) in combination with inter-row hoeing and 4 fertilisation levels (50-200 kg N ha −1). In experiment I the strategies consisting of no or one direct weed control measure (1, 2, 3 and 5) clearly did not control the perennial weeds. The two seasonal control measures (4 and 6) gave a satisfactory weed control and highest crop yield. The combination of best weed control and no measured harmful effects on soil structure or increase of fungal diseases may explain the highest yields for these strategies. In Experiment II, hoeing and 24 cm spacing gave less perennial biomass compared to 12 cm spacing. Grain yields increased linearly with increasing nitrogen input. The study shows that both inter-row hoeing and weed harrows, are important elements in integrated pest management practice and organic farming. In addition, our results indicate that efficient mechanical weeding is possible without harmful effects in crop rotation consisting of various spring cereals as regards soil structure and plant health.

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“…Increased plant biomass density in the field is the key to increasing agricultural sustainability, while producing high yields. (i) More standing biomass (and less bare soil) through increased crop density (Weiner et al 2010), intercropping (Vandermeer 1989) or subsidiary crops [cover crops (Wittwer et al 2017) and 'living mulches' (Hartwig & Ammon 2002;Costanzo & B arberi 2016)]. Competition among plants in the field should be seen as something to manipulate, not something to avoid.…”

Section: The Importance Of Improving Soil Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), intercropping (Vandermeer ) or subsidiary crops [cover crops (Wittwer et al . ) and ‘living mulches’ (Hartwig & Ammon ; Costanzo & Bàrberi )]. Competition among plants in the field should be seen as something to manipulate, not something to avoid.…”

Section: The Importance Of Improving Soil Fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying plant ecological knowledge to increase agricultural sustainability

Weiner

2017

Journal of Ecology

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Summary1. Plant ecological knowledge accumulated over the past 150 years has enormous implications for agriculture, but most of these implications have not been appreciated by ecologists or agronomists. Here, I present several of the most salient examples. 2. Agriculturalists refer to 'improvements', but plant ecologists know that 'trade-offs' represent a better conceptual framework for agricultural production. There is much evidence for trade-offs between yield and resource use efficiency, and between individual fitness and population yield. I argue that there is also a 'limiting trade-off' between short-term yield and sustainability, and it is important to take this into consideration if we are serious about increasing sustainability. 3. At the local level, agricultural sustainability is about maintaining or improving soil fertility, but this is not a priority in most agricultural systems world-wide. Increased biomass density (both living and dead) in the field is the key to increasing sustainability while maintaining high yields, and I present a vision of 'High Biomass Cropping Systems'. 4. Classical and current research in plant community ecology tells us that rotation of crops with different nutritional needs, pests, diseases and weeds can make a major contribution to sustainability. The very limited crop rotations practised in most modern plant production systems are a clear indication that farming practices are usually based on short-term economic and regulatory factors, without much if any consideration for sustainability. 5. Synthesis. The modern scientific method tells us how we should test hypotheses, but it says nothing about how hypotheses are generated. We need to address the agricultural research agenda if it is to serve the interests of farmers, consumers and society as a whole, rather than narrow but powerful economic interests.

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Field scale functional agrobiodiversity in organic wheat: Effects on weed reduction, disease susceptibility and yield

Cited by 19 publications

References 61 publications

Suppression of weeds and weed seeds in the soil by stubbles and no-tillage in an arid maize-winter wheat-common vetch rotation on the Loess Plateau of China

Suppression of weeds and weed seeds in the soil by stubbles and no-tillage in an arid maize-winter wheat-common vetch rotation on the Loess Plateau of China

Influence of mechanical weeding and fertilisation on perennial weeds, fungal diseases, soil structure and crop yield in organic spring cereals

Applying plant ecological knowledge to increase agricultural sustainability

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