The use of cultivar, crop seed rate and nitrogen level for the suppression of weeds in winter wheat.
Abstract
An integrated approach to weed management was investigated, at one site in 1992, involving the use of different cultivars, seed rates and nitrogen regimes. Maris Huntsman (traditional long-strawed) was significantly more effective than Mercia (modem semi-dwarf) in suppressing above-ground weed dry weight throughout the experiment; increasing nitrogen from 40 to 160kg/ha reduced weed dry weight, weed density and the number of weed species. The suppressive effect of increasing crop seed rate from 250-450/m2 was observed only at the final weed harvest when a number of treatment interactions also became evident. Individual weed species displayed differing levels of response to cultivar, crop seed rate and nitrogen, the results suggesting that such an integrated approach may afford opportunities for the suppression of weed infestations.