Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:18:00.540Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Weed Seed Decline in Irrigated Soil after Rotation of Crops and Herbicides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Edward E. Schweizer
Affiliation:
Agric. Res. Serv., U.S. Dep. Agric., Crops Res. Lab.
Robert L. Zimdahl
Affiliation:
Dep. Bot. and Plant Pathol., Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523

Abstract

The impact of two weed management systems on the weed seed reserves of the soil, on the yearly weed problem, and on barley (Hordeum vulgare L. ‘Steptoe’), corn (Zea mays L. ‘Pioneer 3709′), and sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris L. ‘Mono Hy D2′) production was assessed where these crops were grown in rotation for 6 consecutive years. Weeds were controlled in each crop with a moderate (system I) or intensive (system II) level of herbicides, plus conventional tillage. Weed seeds from seven annual genera were identified, with redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L. ♯3 AMARE) and Chenopodium comprising 56 and 30%, respectively, of the initial 1377 million weed seeds/ha that were present in the upper 25 cm of the soil profile. After the sixth cropping year, the overall decline in the total number of weed seeds in soil was 96% in system I and 97% in system II. Over the 6-yr period, about 1.3 times more weeds escaped control in system I than in system II; and within a crop, the fewest number of weeds escaped annually in sugarbeets, and the most in barley. Yields of barley grain, corn silage, and recoverable sucrose were similar each year in the two weed management systems.

Type
Weed Control and Herbicide Technology
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Association of Official Agriculture Chemists. 1955. Official Methods of Analysis. 8th ed. Washington, DC. pp. 564578.Google Scholar
2. Carruthers, A. and Oldfield, J. F. T. 1961. Methods for the assessment of beet quality. Int. Sugar J. 63:7274, 103–105, 137–139.Google Scholar
3. Chancellor, R. J. 1979. The long-term effects of herbicides on weed populations. Ann. Appl. Biol. 91:141144.Google Scholar
4. Dotzenko, A. D., Ozkan, M., and Storer, K. R. 1969. Influence of crop sequence, nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides on weed seed populations in sugar beet fields. Agron. J. 61:3437.Google Scholar
5. Dowler, C. C., Hauser, E. W., and Johnson, A. W. 1974. Cropherbicide sequences on a Southeastern Coastal Plain soil. Weed Sci. 22:500505.Google Scholar
6. Dunham, R. S., Robinson, R. G., and Andersen, R. N. 1958. Crop rotation and associated tillage practices for controlling annual weeds in flax and reducing the weed seed population of the soil. Minn. Agric. Exp. Stn. Tech. Bull. 230, 20 pp.Google Scholar
7. Hawkins, D. E., Slife, F. W., and Swansea, E. R. 1977. Economic analysis of herbicide use in various crop sequences. Ill. Agric. Econ. 117:813.Google Scholar
8. Lybecker, D. W., King, R. P., Schweizer, E. E., and Zimdahl, R. L. 1983. Economic analysis of two weed management systems for two cropping rotations. Weed Sci. 32:9095.Google Scholar
9. Parshall, M. 1961. Meterological Data, 1887–1957. Colo. Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. 5095, 17 pp.Google Scholar
10. Roberts, H. A. 1968. The changing population of viable weed seeds in arable soil. Weed Res. 8:253256.Google Scholar
11. Robinson, R. G. 1949. Annual weeds, their viable seed population in the soil and their effect on yields of oats, wheat, and flax. Agron. J. 41:513518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Schweizer, E. E. and Zimdahl, R. L. 1983. Weed seed decline in irrigated soil after six years of continuous corn (Zea mays) and herbicides. Weed Sci. 32:7683.Google Scholar
13. Stevens, O. A. 1932. The number and weight of seeds produced by weeds. Am. J. Bot. 19:784794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar