Farmers deserve credit for contributing to the weed surveys

Weed surveys were carried out in the PRODIVA project during 2015-2016 with a smooth collaboration with farmers. More than 200 fields were surveyed in six countries around the Baltic Sea. In addition to the weed observations in spring cereal fields we collected information about the farming practices in organic cropping

Viljelijöillä tärkeä rooli rikkakasvikartoitusten partnerina

PRODIVA-hankkeen (”Crop diversification and weeds”, 2015-2018,Core Organic Plus –ohjelma) tutkimusryhmät ovat keränneet yhdessä viljelijöiden kanssa tietoa, miten eri maissa noudatettavat luonnonmukaisen tuotannon viljelykäytännöt vaikuttavat rikkakasvilajistoon ja rikkakasveista aiheutuviin haittoihin. Posterissa kuvataan maatiloilta saatavan tiedon merkitystä kasvinsuojelututkimukselle

Geograficzne rozmieszczenie ważnych gatunków chwastów - Aktualny stan wiedzy w zakresie zachwaszczenia zbóż w rolnictwie ekologicznym Rejonu Morza Bałtyckiego

Chwasty stanowią źródło różnorodności biologicznej terenów rolniczych, tworzą siedliska i są źródłem pokarmu dla innych organizmów, jednakże z perspektywy produkcji �w rolnictwie ekologicznym zawsze stanowiły duże wyzwanie. Kilka grup gatunków chwastów, ze względu na specyficzne gospodarowanie ekologicznym systemem rolniczym, naturalnie się dostosowało. Może to oddziaływać mocno konkurencyjnie na rośliny uprawne i wymagać dużej ilości nakładów w usunięciu i/lub ograniczeniu ich rozprzestrzeniania. W niniejszej ulotce opisano najbardziej uciążliwe gatunki chwastów w zbożach jarych uprawianych �w gospodarstwach ekologicznych w rejonie Morza Bałtyckiego, w oparciu o istniejącą literaturę oraz informacje dostarczone przez służby doradcze. Przedstawiono i omówiono występowanie gatunków chwastów w poszczególnych krajach oraz zaproponowano system ich klasyfikacji. Badania prowadzono w ramach międzynarodowego projektu „PRODIVA”, w obszarze programu CORE Organic, którego zainteresowaniem badawczym jest między innymi interakcja roślin uprawnych i bioróżnorodności chwastów �w Rolnictwie Ekologicznym. Kraje uczestniczące to: Dania, Finlandia, Niemcy, Łotwa, Polska i Szwecja

Problematic weed species in spring sown cereals around the Baltic Sea - an expert database.

Implications - Specific annual and perennial weeds are a perpetual challenge in the process of tuning up sustainable Organic production. To utilize the perspective of agro-biodiversity would both improve crop yields as well as conserve the ecosystem services of this agriculture system. The successful use of crop diversity strategies provides an additional tool in the toolbox of the farmers, giving them a) an overview of problematic weed species and b) the opportunity to plan their crop diversity based weed management over the course of years in the future

Team-up crop diversification and weed management: PRODIVA. Better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European organic arable cropping systems.

The research-network PRODIVA focuses on a better utilization of crop diversification for weed management in North European arable cropping systems. The goal is to maintain diverse arable weed vegetation that is manageable in the long-term and could fulfil other necessary system-functions including support of beneficial organisms. The partners in PRODIVA will synthesize knowledge from terminated and running research projects and set-up selected new experiments on cover crops and variety resp. crop mixtures. Moreover, we will interact with partners from farming practice and extension services in organic agriculture. Regional fields will be surveyed for weeds to safeguard the relevance of the experimental research. Current cropping practices and their influence on weed pressure and weed diversity will be identified. The project will involve relevant stakeholders from the participating countries to assist in targeting the undertaken research. Project structure, aims and research methods will be presented. Though PRODIVA has a primary focus on arable cropping systems in Organic Farming we are convinced that within the EU-legislative framework of IPM all arable farming systems can profit from the results. Neither are crop diversification methods restricted to Organic Farming, nor can IWM (Integrated Weed Management) be successfully implemented without respecting the role of weeds in agro-ecosystems. The project “PRODIVA - Crop diversification and weeds“ is supported within the ERA-net CORE Organic Plus transnational programmes (Project ID 1381)

Problematic weed species in organic arable agriculture around the Baltic Sea - an expert database

Weeds are a perpetual challenge in Organic agriculture. However, they serve multiple ecosystem services and a low competitive weed cover can be tolerated. Adding to this, is the fact that only a few species prove problematic for both the crop and the farmer. The international PRODIVA project researches the effect of crop diversity strategies on the diversity of weed communities, hypothesizing that by increasing the weed diversity, the development of problematic weeds will mitigated. A preparatory study was conducted to list the most problematic weed species in spring sown cereals in the countries involved with PRODIVA. For this a literature review was conducted in all participating countries, collecting local sources including grey literature. This was combined with the opinion of local extension services and other weed experts. From this a list of 10 most problematic weeds was deducted for each country. We found both annual and perennial species to be mentioned as problematic. A majority of the more problematic species were shared between countries, such as Cirsium arvensis, Elitrigia repens and Chenopodium album. Still, all countries revealed to have individual weed challenges as well. These findings are published as a folder that will be available to local stakeholders

From practice to science and back – knowledge and information chains in PRODIVA

To organize and manage the dissemination process has become a general task within international projects. Within the project PRODIVA (Crop diversification and weed management) we organized these chains as returning cascades between practice (advisors and farmers) and scientists in the Baltic area. A network of farmers was created in each participating region. We collected and used practical knowledge about dominating weed species in Organic spring cereal production. This data can be compared with monitored weeds in the regions. Together with the monitored weeds management data was collected on-farm. Relating this data to the results of experimentally investigated crop diversification tools, being subsidiary crops in the rotation, crop mixtures and variety mixtures show existing overlaps and gaps. Success stories of farms implementing crop diversification links the results in a way most suitable for direct dissemination from farm-to-farm

From practice to science and back – knowledge and information chains in PRODIVA

To organize and manage the dissemination process has become a general task within international projects. Within the project PRODIVA (Crop diversification and weed management) we organized these chains as returning cascades between practice (advisors and farmers) and scientists in the Baltic area. A network of farmers was created in each participating region. We collected and used practical knowledge about dominating weed species in Organic spring cereal production. This data can be compared with monitored weeds in the regions. Together with the monitored weeds management data was collected on-farm. Relating this data to the results of experimentally investigated crop diversification tools, being subsidiary crops in the rotation, crop mixtures and variety mixtures show existing overlaps and gaps. Success stories of farms implementing crop diversification links the results in a way most suitable for direct dissemination from farm-to-farm

Crop diversification and weeds Acronym: PRODIVA

Diversification of crop sequences (WP 1): Perennial weed species can be managed when cover crops / green manure crops are included in the crop sequence but interventions must be species dependent, e.g. Elytrigia repens can be promoted by green manures because they prevent post-harvest cultivations. Cirsium arvense and Sonchus arvensis are two perennials that can be controlled by full-season grass-clover subjected to regular mowing for green manuring purposes and this measure has immediate application. Cover crops for diversification (WP 1): Fast growing cover crops producing copious biomasses are generally useful for the suppression of weeds but need to be abandoned when severe infestations of Elytrigia repens require post-harvest cultivations for effective control. Growers should pay attention to the growth characteristics of cover crops when deciding on species. Clover species like alsike clover, red clover and white clover are suitable cover crops for weed suppression including other attributes beneficial to crop production under Northern conditions. Not only cover crop species but also their varieties are of interest. This knowledge has immediate application and legumes will have fertility building benefits as well. Vigorous cover crop growth after harvest enhances both the competition against weeds and nitrogen accumulation in the soil. Some cover crop species (e.g. Melilotus alba) can remain troublesome volunteer weeds, particularly if reduced tillage is applied. An important constrain for consideration when planning the inclusion of cover crop in the cropping system. Crop species mixtures (WP 2): Sole pea is a weak competitor in comparison with spring barley. Intercropping the two species has not demonstrated a consistent and greater suppressive ability against weeds than sole spring barley. Thus, clear recommendations cannot be made on the basis of the work in PRODIVA. Mixtures of spring barley or oat varieties (WP 3): Variety mixtures did not deviate much in their competitive abilities in comparison with the varieties grown solely. The most promising blends were often those containing a competitive variety that was also highly competitive when grown solely. Use of variety mixtures in practise should be reasoned in considerations regarding yield preservation and the alleviation of leaf diseases. Weed survey and information retrieval (WP 4): Crop diversity management on 71 farms involved region specific practices. Surveys of weed species and abundances of 207 fields with organic spring cereals indicated region specific weed communities. Only few effects of the crop diversification measures applied on the farms could be related to weed species and densities. Stakeholder involvement (WP 5): PRODIVA provides an applied overview of the most problematic weed species in the participating regions. This information to farmers and the public is made in all PRODIVA national languages. Success stories of farmers using crop diversification measures revealed crop compositions in rotations as the most important tool for weed management

Influence of Heat Treatment on Defect Structures in Single-Crystalline Blade Roots Studied by X-ray Topography and Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

Single-crystalline superalloy CMSX-4 is studied in the as-cast state and after heat treatment, with material being taken from turbine blade castings. The effect of the heat treatment on the defect structure of the root area near the selector/root connection is emphasized. Multiscale analysis is performed to correlate results obtained by X-ray topography and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). Electron microscopy observations were also carried out to characterize the inhomogeneity in dendritic structure. The X-ray topography was used to compare defects of the misorientation nature, occurring in as-cast and treated states. The type and concentration of defects before and after heat treatment in different root areas were determined using the PALS method, which enables voids, mono-vacancies, and dislocations to be taken into account. In this way, differences in the concentration of defects caused by heat treatment are rationalized