Crop Residue and Herbicide Application Effects on Weed Control in No-tillage System under Barley-Cotton-Wheat Rotation

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• M. Abbaspoor
• M. Ghodsi

Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Mashhad

10.22067/jpp.v33i3.75364

Abstract

Introduction: Tillage is one of the most important causes of soil erosion in croplands that affects productivity and inflates the cost of production. Recently, in order to enhance sustainability without compromising land productivity, there has been a growing trend toward conservation agriculture. No-tillage (NT) as one of the components of conservation agriculture is a planting system in which soil  dose not disturb and mulch cover remain from previous crop at least in 30%. It has revolutionized agricultural systems because it allows farmers to manage greater amounts of land with reduced energy, labor, and machinery inputs. Minimum tillage systems, such as shallow or surface tillage and direct drilling or no-tillage (NT), increase the degree of soil cover and increase organic matter at the soil surface over time. In specific soil types and climates, this can lead to an improvement of the soil physical condition. Improvement of the biological and physical quality of the surface soil can also help to protect the soil resource against redistribution and erosion. NT cropping systems frequently suffer from weed infestations, especially those of weedy annual grasses. The timing of competition in NT systems may differ from that in conventional systems. Rottenly, a combination of relative crop yield and specific input costs (i.e., fertilizer and pesticide) are considered as key determinants to the profitability of adopting minimum tillage systems. Our understanding of weed community dynamics and suppression in NT systems is limited, particularly in long-term rotations. Winter annuals, biennials, and perennials are typically associated with NT systems because of their affinity for non-disturbed soil environments. The vertical distribution of viable weed seeds in the soil profile is shallower in NT systems than in intensive-tillage systems. Weed seeds remaining at or near the surface are more susceptible to predation and disease, which may deplete the seed bank over time. NT is dependent on herbicides because of the elimination of tillage for control of weeds.
Materials and Methods: A three-year field study was conducted to assess the efficacy of weed control in barley-cotton-wheat rotation under no-tillage system in the agricultural research station of Gonabad, Khorasan-Razavi province, Iran over 2014-2016 seasons. The experiment was arranged in a split plot design based on completely randomized block design with three replications. The main plot was crop residue (left on the ground from previous crop in rotation) in three levels;no residue, 30% residue (1200 kg ha-1) and 60% residue (2400 kg ha-1. The subplot was weed control methods in three levels; (weed infest control, weed free control and chemical control. In chemical control treatment, we applied 2,4-D+ MCPA  at dose of 1.0125 lit a.i. ha-1 for controlling broad-leaved weeds and pinoxaden (Axial® 10% EC) at dose of 67.5 g a.i. ha-1 for controlling narrow-leaved weeds in barley and wheat, and trifluxysulfuron-sodium (Envoke® 75% WG) at dose of 11.25 g a.i. ha-1 in cotton. For barley, the wheat residues were left from wheat planted a year before in rotation. Plots size were 3m×10m. Barley (var. Nosrat), cotton (var. Khordad) and wheat (var. Parsi) planted by direct seeding equipment with no tillage.
Results and Discussion: Cardaria draba and Malcolmia africana in barley, Acroptylon repense and Alhagi pseudalhagi in cotton and A. repense in wheat were dominant weed species from the beginning to the end of the study. Results showed a remarkable change in weed flora from mostly annual weeds (like M. africana) to perennials (like A. repense), because of the fact that no tillage system was deployed. For barley, application of 2, 4-D + MCPA significantly decreased weed dry weight and density compare to the weedy check. Residues showed no significant effect on biological and seed yield of barley. For cotton, the effect of trifluxysulfuron-sodium was significant on decreasing the density and dry weight of A. repense 30 days after spraying and in the end of the season as well. Effect of residue levels (30% or 60%) was not significant on the density and dry matter of A. repense in the early and at the end of the season as well. Trifluxysulfuron-sodium significantly increased cotton dry weight compare to the weedy control. Dry weight of cotton in hand weeding control and application of trifluxysulfuron-sodium treatments were significantly higher than that of weedy control. Residues showed no significant effect on cotton boll dry weight. For wheat, application of 2, 4-D + MCPA significantly decreased weed dry weight and density compared to the weedy control. Residues showed no significant effect on biological and seed yield of wheat.
Conclusion: No-tillage system by at least 30% (1200 kg ha-1) up to 60% (2400 kg ha-1) of residues spread on the soil surface can be recommended to be deployed besides a suitable chemical weed control management in barley-cotton-wheat rotation in semi-arid climate conditions to enjoy the benefits of no tillage system of agriculture.

Keywords

• Conservation tillage
• residue managements
• Weed control

20.1001.1.20084749.1398.33.3.7.2

---

References

1- Adu-Tutu K.O., McCloskey W.B., Husman S.H., Clay P., Ottman M., and Martin E.C. 2003. Effects of reduced tillage and crop residues on cotton weed control, growth and yield. In: Silvertooth J, editor. Cotton. Tucson, AZ: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona. Report Nunmber P-134: 235-250.

2- Anderson R.L. 2005. A multi-tactic approach to manage weed population dynamics in crop rotation. Agronomy Journal 97: 1579-1683.

3- Armengot L., Blanco-Moreno J.M., Bàrberi P., Bocci G., Carlesi S., Aendekerk R., Berner A., Celette F., Grosse M., Huiting H., Kranzler A., Luik A., Mader P., Peigne J., Stoll E., Delfosse P., Sukkel W., Surböck A., Westaway S., and Sans F.X. 2016. Tillage as a driver of change in weed communities: a functional perspective. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 222: 276–285.

4- Arshad M.A., Gill K.S., and Coy G.R. 1995. Barley, canola, and weed growth with decreasing tillage in a cold, semiarid climate. Agronomy Journal 87: 49-55.

5- Banting J.D. 1996. Studies on the persistence of Avena fatua. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 46: 129-140.

6- Barker A.V., and Bhowmik P.C. 2001. Weed control with crop residues in vegetable cropping systems. Journal of Crop Production 4: 163-183.

7- Beyaert R.P., Schott J.W., and White P.H. 2002. Tillage effect on corn (Zea mays L.) production in a coarse-textured soil in southern Ontario. Agronomy Journal 94: 767–774.

8- Blackshaw R.E., Larney G.O., Lindwall C.W., and Kozub G.C. 1994. Crop rotation and tillage effects on weed populations on the semi-arid Canadian prairies. Weed Technology 8: 231-237.

9- Childs D., Jordan T., Ross M., and Bauman T. 2001. Weed Control in No-Tillage Systems. Conservation Tillage Series, CT2. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 7-479. Indiana, USA.

10- Chokor J.U., Ikuenobe C.E., and Odoh C.N. 2008. Effect of tillage on the efficacy of CGA362622 on weed control in maize. African Journal of Biotechnology 23: 4288-4290.

11- Chopra P., and Angiras N.N. 2008. Effect of tillage and weed management on productivity and nutrient uptake of maize (Zea mays). Indian Journal of Agronomy 53: 66-69.

12- Dastgheib F., Kumar K., and Goh K.M. 1998. Effects of crop residues and management practices on weeds in a wheat crop in Canterbury. Proceedings of Agronomy society of New Zealand 28: 17-20.

13- Demjanova E., Macak M., Dalovic I., Majernik F., Tyr S., and Smatana J. 2009. Effects of tillage systems and crop rotation on weed density, weed species composition and weed biomass in maize. Agronomy Research 7: 785-792.

14- Dorado J., and Lopez-Fando C. 2006. The effect of tillage system and use of a paraplow on weed flora in a semiarid soil from central Spain. Weed Research 46: 424-431.

15- Flower K.C., Ward P.R., Cordingley N., Micin S.F., and Craig N. 2017. Rainfall, rotations and residue level affect no-tillage wheat yield and gross margin in a Mediterranean-type environment. Field Crops Research 208: 1–10.

16- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2007. Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department. Rome, Italy. Available from http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/. Accessed November 2007.

17- Gemtos T.A., Cavalaris C., Demis V., Pateras D., and Tsidari C. 2002. Effect of changing tillage practices after four years of continuous reduced tillage. Paper number 021135 ASAE Annual Meeting.

18- Gulde, R.H., Shirtliffe S.J., and Thomas A.G. 2003. Secondary seed dormancy prolongs persistence of volunteer canola in western Canada. Weed Science 51: 904-913.

19- Judice W.E., Griffin J.L., Jones C.A., Etheredge L.M., and Salassi M.E. 2006. Weed control and economics using reduced tillage programs in sugarcane. Weed Technology 20: 319–325.

20- Kassam A., Friedrich T., Derpsch R., and Kienzle J. 2015. Overview of the worldwide spread of conservation agriculture. Field Actions Science Reports 8: 1-11.

21- Knezevic M., Durkic M., Knezevic I., Antoni O., and Jelaska S. 2003. Effects of tillage and reduced herbicide doses on weed biomass production in winter and spring cereals. Plant, Soil and Environment 49: 414-421.

22- Legere A., and Samson N. 2004. Tillage and weed management effects on weeds in barley-red clover cropping systems. Weed Science 52: 881-885.

23- Liebl R., Simmons F.W., Wax L.M., and Stoller E.W. 1992. Effect of rye (Secale cereal) mulch on weed control and soil moisture in soybean (Glycine max). Weed Technology 6: 838-846.

24- Moldenhauer W.C., Langdale G.W., Frye W., McCool D.K., Papendick R.I., Smika D.E., and Fryrear D.W. 1983. Conservation tillage for erosion control. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 38: 144–151.

25- Montgomery D.R. 2007. Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 104: 13268-13272.

26- Mosavi-Borgar A., Jahansooze M.R., Mehrvar M.R., and Hosseinipour R. 2013. The effects of no-till, minimum till and conventional till systems in wheat cultivars. Iranian Journal of Field Crop Science 44: 411-418. (In Persian with English abstract)

27- Norsworthy J.K. 2008. Effect of tillage intensity and herbicide programs on changes in weed species density and composition in the southeastern coastal plains of the United States. Crop Protection 27: 151-160.

28- Obour A.K., Mikha M.M., Holman J.D., Stahlman P.W. 2017. Changes in soil surface chemistry after fifty years of tillage and nitrogen fertilization. Geoderma 308: 46–53.

29- Oliver E., Nybo B., Derksen D., and Watson P. 2005. Southwest opener/rotation study: The effect of opener disturbance on weed populations and crop rotations in the dry brown soil. Agri-Food Innovation Fund, Diversified Farming Systems Program, Final Project Report.

30- Ominski P.D., and Entz M.H. 2001. Eliminating soil disturbance reduces post-alfalfa annual weed populations. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 81: 881-884.

31- Peigne J., Vian J.F., Payet V., and Saby N.P.A. 2018. Soil fertility after 10 years of conservation tillage in organic farming. Soil and Tillage Research 175: 194–204.

32- Pimentel D., Harvey C., Resosudarmo P., Sinclair K., Kurz D., Mcnair M., Crist S., Shpretz L., Fitton L., Saffouri R., and Blair R. 1995. Environmental and economic costs of soil erosion and conservation benefits. Science 267: 1117-1123.

33- Refsell D.E., and Hartzler R.G. 2009. Effect of tillage on common waterhemp (Amaranthus Rudis) emergence and vertical distribution of seed in the soil. Weed Technology 23: 129-133.

34- Santin-Montanya M.I., Martin-Lammerding D., Zambrana E., Tenorio J.L. 2016. Management of weed emergence and weed seed bank in response to different tillage, cropping systems and selected soil properties. Soil and Tillage Research 161: 38–46.

35- Sardar M., Behdani M.A., Eslami S.V., Mahmoodi S. 2015. The effect of different weeds control and tillage systems on cotton’s weeds management in second planting after of winter wheat. Journal of Plant Protection 29: 95-101. (In Persian with English abstract)

36- Shrestha A., Knezevic S.Z., Roy R.C., Ball–Coelho B.R., and Swanton C.J. 2002. Effect of tillage, cover crop and crop rotation on the composition of weed flora in a sandy soil. Weed Research 42: 76-87.

37- Shahzad M., Farooq M., Jabran K., and Hussain M. 2016. Impact of different crop rotations and tillage systems on weed infestation and productivity of bread wheat. Crop Protection 89: 161-169.

38- Vanhala P., Kurstjens D., Ascard J., Bertram A., Cloutier D.C., Mead A., Raffaelli M., and Rasmussen J. 2004. Guidelines for physical weed control research: flame weeding, weed harrowing and intra-row cultivation. 6th EWRS Workshop on Physical and Cultural Weed Control. Lillehammer, Norway 8-10 March 2004.

39- Vyn T.J., and Raimbault B.A. 1993. Long-term effect of five tillage systems on corn response and soil structure. Agronomy Journal 85: 1074–1079.

40- Velykis A., and Satkus A. 2006. Influence of crop rotations and reduced tillage on weed population dynamics under Lithuania's heavy soil conditions. Agronomy Researc, 4: 441-445.

41- Verhulst N., Goverts B., Verachtert E., Castellanos-Navarrete A., Mezzalma M., Wall P., Deckers J., and Sayre K.D. 2010. Conservation Agriculture, Improving Soil Quality for Sustainable Production Systems? In: Lal, R., Stewart, B. A. (Eds)), Advances in Soil Science: Food Security and Soil Quality. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp. 137-208.

42- Zand E., Baghestani M.A., Shimi P., Nezamabadi N., Mosavi M.R., and Mosavi K. 2012. Guide for weed control methods in important crops and fruit gardens in Iran. Mashhad Jahad Daneshgahi Press. 176 pages. (In Persian)