Weed Community Dynamics and Suppression in Tilled and No-Tillage Transitional Organic Winter Rye–Soybean Systems

Abstract

OFRF encourages organic farmers to participate in the policy process by joining our Organic Farmers Action Network (OFAN). OFAN subscribers will receive free policy updates and tools for communicating with representatives in Congress to advocate for increased funding for organic research, technical assistance and marketing support, organic conservation programs and maintenance and improvement of national organic standards. Email action@ofrf.org to join. EducationOFRF seeks to share new insights into organic farming systems with all farmers who use or want to adopt organic practices. The results of research projects funded by OFRF generate information useful to farmers who are working to develop and improve integrated, systems-level organic management practices. Every OFRF-funded project is required to have an outreach component that disseminates the results to the grower and research communities. ResearchOFRF conducts original research about organic farming in the U.S. OFRF research reports include:• National Organic Farmers' Surveys OFRF's integrated strategy of grantmaking, policy, research and education initiatives and networking activities support organic farmers' immediate information needs while moving the public and policymakers toward greater investment in organic farming systems. GrantmakingSince 1992, OFRF's grantmaking program has awarded more than $1.5 million for over 200 projects. Our grantmaking objective is to generate practical, science-based knowledge to support modern organic farming systems. OFRF-funded projects emphasize grower-researcher collaboration, studies conducted on-farm and in certified organic settings, and outreach of project results. PolicyOFRF's policy program objectives are to ensure that the public and policymakers are well-informed about organic farming issues, and to increase public institutional support for organic farming research and education.The results of OFRF-funded projects are published in our newsletter, the Information Bulletin, available free online at www.ofrf.org. Our special appreciation goes to Martha Brown, who helped edit the project and greatly improved the accessibility of the material. Thank you to Sarah Miles for designing the publication, and to Paul Bousquet for kindly allowing us the use of his images. NATIONAL ORGANIC RESEARCH AGENDA SOILS • PESTS • LIVESTOCK • GENETICSWe also extend our kindest thanks to our reviewers, particularly Nick Maravell, who contributed text and reviewed various drafts of the document and provided invaluable feedback on the content, greatly improving its quality.The reviewers were:We are grateful to the USDA-CSREES Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems for their generous support of this project, prepared for Project #000-5192, "Revitalizing Small and Mid-Sized Farms: Organic Research, Education and Extension," and to our cooperators in this project.We would also like to acknowledge the Forrest C. Lattner Foundation, the Wallace Genetic Foundation, and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation --Barkley Fund for th...

Overview of Organic Cover Crop-Based No-Tillage Technique in Europe: Farmers’ Practices and Research Challenges

“…Several papers have been published in North America on organic MBNT, summarizing the results of research trials based on cover crop species [21][22][23][24][25][26], cover crop termination methods and timing [24,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33], weed suppression [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41], and cash crop sowing (fertilization strategies, row spacing, seeding rate) [24,42,43]. Nevertheless, in Europe, very few studies exist that focus on organic MBNT, raising questions of the effectiveness and appropriateness of this technique to enhance the sustainability of European organic farms [44].…”

Efficacy of Herbicides in Non-Puddled Transplanted Rice Under Conservation Agriculture Systems and Their Effect on Establishment of the Succeeding Crops

“…While in strip tilled non-puddled rice field, weed seeds are likely to remain in viable conditions on the soil surface in the first year due to lack of conventional deep puddling resulted higher weed infestation. But in the succeeding year, weed emergence rate decreased possibly because most of the non-dormant weed seeds on the surface soil already emerged in the first year and very few new viable weed seeds could emerge from the sub-soil layers due to the confinement of deep tillage to < 25 % of the soil surface and for the presence of crop residue on the surface soil [48][49][50]. Mishra and Singh also reported the decrease of weed biomass by three-fold in the second year compared to the first year in DSR under zero tillage system [33].…”

The Current State and Future Directions of Organic No-Till Farming with Cover Crops in Canada, with Case Study Support

“…After termination, cover crop residues provide weed control throughout the growing season. Bernstein et al observe that weed density in rye cover-cropped OrgNT system peaks later in the season than its tilled counterpart [30]. Tilled plots have the highest weed incidence in mid-June to early July (44 plants m −2 versus 0.2 plants m −2 in no-till), while no-till have the highest in late August (reaching 1.8 plants m −2 ) [30].…”

“…Bernstein et al observe that weed density in rye cover-cropped OrgNT system peaks later in the season than its tilled counterpart [30]. Tilled plots have the highest weed incidence in mid-June to early July (44 plants m −2 versus 0.2 plants m −2 in no-till), while no-till have the highest in late August (reaching 1.8 plants m −2 ) [30]. The total weed biomass by late season is 73-92% lower in no-till plots [30].…”

“…Tilled plots have the highest weed incidence in mid-June to early July (44 plants m −2 versus 0.2 plants m −2 in no-till), while no-till have the highest in late August (reaching 1.8 plants m −2 ) [30]. The total weed biomass by late season is 73-92% lower in no-till plots [30]. The suppression of early weed emergence can minimize weed biomass and the negative impact of weeds on the cash crop.…”