Effect of weeding management on the performance of local maize populations

Abstract

One of the most important stress factors in maize (Zea mays L.) fields is weed competition, which reduces the crop yield. Weeds chiefly interfere with maize and establish considerable competition for light, water and nutrients. To avoid these harmful effects, there are different agronomic measures and factors among which, the most relevant are the interactions between crop and weed, weed management practices and type of germplasm. This study attempts to evaluate maize germplasm for tolerance to weed competition in order to achieve competitive ability and suitability for farming. Ten genotypes of maize, classified into two groups, i.e. improved populations and traditional cultivars, were grown under four types of weed management practices (mechanical harrowing control, chemical control, combination of harrowing and chemical control and untreated control as check) for three years (from 2009 to 2011) in Zaragoza (Spain). We found that the effect of weed management practices was not significantly different, whereas the genotype effect was highly significant, with genotype EZS34 (mean yield of 7.7 Mg ha -1 ) showing the highest yield. Other traits, such as earliness, displayed a good behaviour under weed competition. On the other hand, harrowing management proved to be the most effective method of weed control although it did not show a significant response. The best results are associated with some maize genotypes that have a specific adaptation to local conditions, according to their genetic background.

Evaluating the effects of manual hoeing and selective herbicides on maize (Zea mays L.) productivity and profitability

“…This would have caused nutrient stress [ 25 ], and water stress that the plant could overcome by closing the stomata to avoid losing stored water through leaf transpiration. Consequently, leaf chlorophyll content, total height, leaf area, and dry grain yield [ [26] , [27] , [28] ].…”

Weed Problems, Ecology, and Management Options in Conservation Agriculture: Issues and Perspectives

“…Although, horseweed is reported to be easy to control with tillage (Kapusta, 1979;Brown and Whitwell, 1988), difficulty with postemergence soybean herbicides have been reported worldwide (Bruce and Kells, 1990;Moseley and Hagood, 1990;Vangessel et al, 2001) and the increased reliance on glyphosate under NT farming has increased the potential for the evolution of GR weeds (Davis et al, 2009b), like Giant ragweed (A. trifida) in cotton (Barnett and Steckel, 2013). Occurrence of resistant weeds in the Ebro valley maize fields has been significant (Peña-Asin et al, 2013).…”

Case Study of Effects of Mineral N Fertilization Amounts on Water Productivity in Rainfed Winter Rapeseed Cultivation on a Sandy Soil in Brandenburg (Germany) over Three Years

“…The water fluxes at field scale, i.e., stemflow, throughfall, infiltration, percolation, runoff, soil moisture, capillary rise, root water uptake, interception, evaporation, and transpiration, determine biomass production to a large extent. The most relevant management practices to raise the productivity of precipitation water are: soil tillage (roughening of the surface/fallowing of crusts, no-till); humus conservation (application of organic matter; mulching; turning under of crop residues); fertilizing (organic-mineral fertilization, e.g., [17]; mineral fertilization; sufficient N-, P-, K-supply; timing, e.g., [18]); crop rotation (optimizing of crop rotation and intermediate crop, e.g., [19]; plant protection); seeding (seed-bed preparation; high crop density; seeding date; frost protection); breeding (drought-tolerant varieties; varieties with high transpiration efficiency, e.g., [20]; coverage, e.g., [21]); wind protection; cultivation of legumes; increasing activity of microorganisms; and irrigation with harvested water (e.g., [17]).…”