Weed trimming – a successful non-chemical seed bank reduction technique

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

9-2010

Conference Title

17th Australasian Weeds Conference (2010) - New Frontiers in New Zealand: Together we can beat the weeds

Place of Publication

Christchurch

ISBN

978-0-86476-239-9

Keywords

Lupins, chickpeas, annual ryegrass, weed control, herbicide resistance, organic agriculture, weed trimming, weed seed set, wild radish, wild oats.

Disciplines

Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Weed Science

Abstract

Blanket wiping or crop topping at crop maturity are often performed to reduce weed seed set but off-label issues and herbicide resistance are a problem. Although swathing is a physical way of preventing weed seed set in some crops such as canola, the limitation of this practice is many weed seeds would mature before swathing is done and mature seeds are likely to shed. Weed seed shedding, with or without swathing, is a serious limitation of weed seed collection systems, such as chaff carts, at harvest. One way to alleviate this problem is to remove the weed seeds at the flowering stage before seeds are mature. In 2005, Indian hedge mustard seed set was reduced by 35% in chickpeas by trimming weeds above the crop. In 2006, wild oat seed and volunteer wheat seed in the harvested chickpea seed was reduced by 20% and 85% respectively. Trimming reduced the wild radish seed number in the harvested lupin grain by 30% at Wongan Hills in 2008. Trimming lupins at Wongan Hills in 2009 reduced wild radish in-field seed number returned to the soil to 11% of the untreated control. Trimming plus glyphosate was the most effective treatment in reducing the in-field wild radish seed production to 4.6% of the untreated control.

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