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Agronomy
Special Issues
Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems
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Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Innovative Cropping Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2019) | Viewed by 27842

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Judith Wirth

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Herbology in Field Crops and Viticulture-Agroscope, Plant-Production Systems, Nyon, Switzerland
Interests: cover crops; weed suppression; allelopathy; cropping systems; herbicide resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Aurélie Gfeller

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Herbology in Field Crops and Viticulture, Plant-Production System, Agroscope, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland
Interests: cover crops; weed suppression; allelopathy; cropping systems; metabolomics; plant physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For several decades, weed control was largely dependent on synthetic herbicides as they were cheap, easy to use and very efficient. However, an over-reliance on chemical control has led to environmental concerns. Moreover, in the context of the renewal of the approval of active substances, more and more herbicides have been withdrawn from the market. Furthermore, severe herbicide resistance problems are increasing globally. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop alternative methods for weed management as a basis of environmentally friendly and sustainable agroecosystems. 

This Special Issue is intended to provide new insights into innovative weed management solutions in annual and perennial cropping systems. Both reviews and original research papers on the use of cover crops, intercropping, mulches, crop rotation, cropping systems, cultivation methods, competitive crop cultivars, allelopathy, animals, automated mechanical weeding and other promising and innovative tools for weed control are invited.

Dr. Judith Wirth
Dr. Aurélie Gfeller
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Cover crops
  • Intercropping
  • Competitive crops
  • Crop rotation
  • Cultivation methods
  • Planting strategies
  • Mulches
  • Animals for weed control
  • Thermal weed control
  • Automated mechanical weeding

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2047 KiB  
Article
Weed Suppression in Only-Legume Cover Crop Mixtures
by Heba Elsalahy, Thomas Döring, Sonoko Bellingrath-Kimura and Danny Arends
Agronomy 2019, 9(10), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9100648 - 17 Oct 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4909
Abstract
Weed suppression is a potential benefit of cover crop mixtures, as species diversity may allow for combining early and late-season competition with weeds. Here, we studied if this is possible for only-legume mixtures containing species with different growth rates, by testing two legumes, [...] Read more.
Weed suppression is a potential benefit of cover crop mixtures, as species diversity may allow for combining early and late-season competition with weeds. Here, we studied if this is possible for only-legume mixtures containing species with different growth rates, by testing two legumes, alsike clover (AC; Trifolium hybridum L.) and black medic (BM; Medicago lupulina L.) in two field trials sown in 2016 and 2017. Five AC:BM ratios (100:0, 67:33, 50:50, 33:67, and 0:100) were grown at three densities (50%, 100%, and 150% of recommended seed density). Cover crop and weed aboveground biomass (CCB and WB, respectively) were harvested three times, after establishment in spring (H1), in summer (H2), and in autumn after mulching (H3). Compared to fallow plots, all monocultures and mixtures showed early-season weed suppression in terms of biomass production and more efficiency over time with an average reduction of 42%, 52%, and 96% in 2016, and 39%, 55%, and 89% in 2017 at H1, H2, and H3, respectively. Out of 54 mixture treatments, only eight mixtures showed stronger weed suppression than monocultures. Mixtures reduced WB by 28%, as an average value, in 2017 compared to the respective monocultures, but not significantly in 2016, indicating that the crop diversity effect on weeds was dependent on the growing environment. Weed suppression was significantly higher at 100% and 150% seed density than 50%, but no significant differences were determined between 100% and 150% seed density. After mulching, no density effect was observed on CCB and WB. In conclusion, AC and BM can be used as a keystone species on weed suppression for sustainable agriculture as they possess plasticity to suppress weeds when higher biomass productivity is limited by environmental conditions. However, their diversity effects are time and condition dependent. Appropriate seed density and mulching can successfully be employed in weed management, but seed density may not have an effect after mulching. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems)
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18 pages, 1394 KiB  
Article
Identification of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L. subsp. vulgare) Root Exudates Allelochemicals, Their Autoallelopathic Activity and Against Bromus diandrus Roth. Germination
by Imen Bouhaouel, Gaëtan Richard, Marie-Laure Fauconnier, Marc Ongena, Laurent Franzil, Aurélie Gfeller, Hajer Slim Amara and Patrick du Jardin
Agronomy 2019, 9(7), 345; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9070345 - 30 Jun 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4873
Abstract
Crops with weed suppressive root exudates or the direct use of bioherbicidal allelochemicals is a new approach in integrated weed management systems. In this context, the allelopathic activity and chemical composition of root exudates from six genotypes (modern varieties and landraces) of barley [...] Read more.
Crops with weed suppressive root exudates or the direct use of bioherbicidal allelochemicals is a new approach in integrated weed management systems. In this context, the allelopathic activity and chemical composition of root exudates from six genotypes (modern varieties and landraces) of barley were characterized. The phenolic acids appeared to be particularly implicated in the inhibitory action of barley root exudates against Bromus diandrus. The amount of these compounds was higher in sandy substrate than in sandy-clay-loam substrate. Ten phenolic acids and one phenylpropanoid derivative were present, in addition to saponarin, a newly identified flavonoid in barley root exudates. Seven compounds explaining variability in the inhibitory activity of barley roots (stepwise analysis) and one compound detected only in highly allelopathic genotypes were toxic against receiver plants. Most compounds had a greater inhibitory effect on the growth of great brome than the barley genotypes. The synergistic and/or additive effect of the eight compounds appeared to be the source of the toxicity. Benzoic acid, the mixture of compounds, saponarin and salicylic acid were the most efficient compounds against the great brome and the less aggressive against barley. Overall, the results revealed the allelopathic potential of the water-soluble compounds exuded by the roots of living barley plants. These compounds included saponarin, a flavonoid not yet recognized as a barley root allelochemical. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems)
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12 pages, 1954 KiB  
Article
Weed Control Ability of Single Sown Cover Crops Compared to Species Mixtures
by Alexandra Schappert, Matthias Schumacher and Roland Gerhards
Agronomy 2019, 9(6), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9060294 - 6 Jun 2019
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 5060
Abstract
To achieve efficient weed control through cover cropping, the plant species chosen needs particular consideration. Combing different cover crop (CC) species in mixtures may increase the number of provided ecosystem services, including reliable suppression of weeds. We tested the weed suppression ability of [...] Read more.
To achieve efficient weed control through cover cropping, the plant species chosen needs particular consideration. Combing different cover crop (CC) species in mixtures may increase the number of provided ecosystem services, including reliable suppression of weeds. We tested the weed suppression ability of single CC species and CC mixtures in a field trial during the autumn-to-winter growing season of 2016 and 2017. Anethum graveolens L. (dill), Raphanus sativus var. oleiformis Pers. (oilseed radish), Avena strigosa Schreb. (black oat), Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower), Vicia sativa L. (vetch) and Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth. (phacelia) were sown in monocultures, as well as in mixtures with three or six species. Treatments with favorable establishment and above-average biomass yields tended to suppress weeds by showing lower weed dry matter and weed numbers. The highest weed control efficacy within the monocultures was reached in 2017 by black oat and oilseed radish with 72% and 83%, respectively. The mixture treatments reached a generally lower soil cover, aboveground dry matter and weed control efficacy (with an average of 57% in 2017). Even though mixtures were not as effective as the best performing single sown CCs, species combinations increased resilience against adverse weather conditions, an advantage to achieving efficient weed control over a long-term period. Therefore, species composition within mixtures is more relevant than the number of species included. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems)
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22 pages, 2745 KiB  
Article
May the Inclusion of a Legume Crop Change Weed Composition in Cereal Fields? Example of Sainfoin in Aragon (Spain)
by Alicia Cirujeda, Ana Isabel Marí, Sonia Murillo, Joaquín Aibar, Gabriel Pardo and Xavier-Oriol Solé-Senan
Agronomy 2019, 9(3), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9030134 - 14 Mar 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4019
Abstract
Onobrychis viciifolia (Scop.) (sainfoin) is promoted in the Spanish Aragón region through the Agro-Environmental Schemes (AES) since 2007 with the aim of enhancing biodiversity. Also, in other countries, the interest in this legume crop is growing due to its rusticity and beneficial effects [...] Read more.
Onobrychis viciifolia (Scop.) (sainfoin) is promoted in the Spanish Aragón region through the Agro-Environmental Schemes (AES) since 2007 with the aim of enhancing biodiversity. Also, in other countries, the interest in this legume crop is growing due to its rusticity and beneficial effects on the soil and livestock. However, the effect of the crop on weed flora in the subsequent cereal crops has hardly been investigated yet. With this aim, weed flora has been characterised in 2011–2014 in sainfoin fields in the second and third year of establishment (S2 and S3), in cereal monocrop (CM), in cereal after sainfoin (CS) and in organic cereal fields (OC). Additionally, the soil seedbank was determined in two years in CM and S3 fields. Weed species richness of emerged flora and of the soil seedbank was highest for sainfoin and lowest for CM, being intermediate for OC and CS regardless of the sampling year. The most feared weed species in winter cereal did not increase by growing sainfoin or in CS compared to CM. Curiously, summer annuals dominated in the soil seedbank. Sainfoin fields cause thus a shift in the weed flora, which does not seem to damage subsequent cereal crops provided fields are mouldboard ploughed after sainfoin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems)
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Review

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13 pages, 249 KiB  
Review
A Review of the Soil Seedbank from a Weed Scientists Perspective
by Lauren M. Schwartz-Lazaro and Josh T. Copes
Agronomy 2019, 9(7), 369; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9070369 - 11 Jul 2019
Cited by 48 | Viewed by 8348
Abstract
Despite efforts to eliminate weeds, they continue to thrive. Weed persistence is reliant upon the soil seedbank. Knowledge of the soil seedbank is continually expanding, but with the rising threat of herbicide-resistant weeds in agriculture, weed scientists have, in the past, focused their [...] Read more.
Despite efforts to eliminate weeds, they continue to thrive. Weed persistence is reliant upon the soil seedbank. Knowledge of the soil seedbank is continually expanding, but with the rising threat of herbicide-resistant weeds in agriculture, weed scientists have, in the past, focused their management tactics to more short-term solutions that tackle the aboveground problems, rather than long-term solutions. This article summarized the soil seedbank dynamics of weed seeds and derives management options, from a North American weed scientists’ perspective, that (i) favor the depletion of the seedbank, (ii) favor the germination of the seedbank, and (iii) reduce the possibilities of seed produced by the seedlings that germinated to return the soil. These options can potentially deter herbicide resistance and are successful in the short term for reducing field weed infestations, but are likely to take many years to affect recruitment to the weed seedbank, including recruitment of weed species with a high risk for resistance. The natural longevity of the seedbank suggests that alternative or additional weed management tactics are required to reduce the store of weed seeds in the active seedbank. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Weed Management in Annual and Perennial Cropping Systems)
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