Abstract
Potato, dry bean, and sugar beet production have increased markedly in recent years on irrigated cropland in Alberta, Canada. Concerns exist about declining soil quality and increased soil erosion when these low-residue crops are grown in sequence in short-duration rotations. A 12-yr rotation study was conducted to determine the merits of adopting various conservation practices (reduced tillage, cover crops, composted manure) and longer-duration rotations to develop a more sustainable production system for these row crops. This article reports on weed density and weed seedbank data collected in the study. Weed densities recorded prior to applying postemergence herbicides indicated that conservation compared with conventional management treatments had greater weed densities in 30 to 45% of the cases in 3-, 4-, and 5-yr rotations. In contrast, a 6-yr conservation rotation that included 2 yr of timothy forage resulted in similar or lower weed densities than rotations with conventional management practices. Residual weed densities recorded 4 wk after applying postemergence herbicides were only greater in conservation than conventional rotations in 2 of 12 yr, regardless of rotation length. Weed seedbank densities at the conclusion of the 12-yr study were similar for 3- to 6-yr rotations under either conservation or conventional management. These findings indicate that implementing a suite of conservation practices poses little risk of increased weed populations in the long term. This knowledge will facilitate grower adoption of more sustainable agronomic practices for irrigated row crops in this region.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Conservation management had greater preherbicide weed density than conventional management in 30 to 45% of cases in 3-, 4-, and 5-year rotations.
Verbatim
e0“Weed densities recorded prior to applying postemergence herbicides indicated that conservation compared with conventional management treatments had greater weed densities in 30 to 45% of the cases in 3-, 4-, and 5-yr rotations.”
t0“Potato, dry bean, and sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
A 6-year conservation rotation including timothy had similar or lower weed densities than conventional rotations.
Verbatim
e0“a 6-yr conservation rotation that included 2 yr of timothy forage resulted in similar or lower weed densities than rotations with conventional management practices.”
t0“Potato, dry bean, and sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
Postherbicide residual weed densities were greater under conservation management in only 2 of 12 years.
Verbatim
e0“Residual weed densities recorded 4 wk after applying postemergence herbicides were only greater in conservation than conventional rotations in 2 of 12 yr, regardless of rotation length.”
t0“Potato, dry bean, and sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
After 12 years, seedbank densities were similar across 3- to 6-year rotations and management systems.
Verbatim
e0“Weed seedbank densities at the conclusion of the 12-yr study were similar for 3- to 6-yr rotations under either conservation or conventional management.”
t0“Potato, dry bean, and sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude conservation practices pose little long-term risk of greater weed populations.
Verbatim
e0“implementing a suite of conservation practices poses little risk of increased weed populations in the long term.”
t0“Potato, dry bean, and sugar beet”
The same questions in other papers
rotation · weed · Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean)Positive and negative results
1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
rotation · weed · Beta vulgaris (beet)Positive and negative results
1 in the opposite direction
- negative
rotation · weed · Solanum tuberosum (potato)Positive and negative results
3 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- positive
- positive
1 paper more in this group
See all 5 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.