Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud) competition altered wheat grain quality: a study under elevated atmospheric CO2 levels and drought conditions

Annual ryegrass is one of the most serious, costly weeds of winter cropping systems in Australia. To determine whether its competition-mediated plant defence mechanisms effect on wheat grain quality, wheat (cv. Yitpi) and annual ryegrass were grown under two levels of CO (400 ppm; (a[CO]) vs 700 ppm; (e[CO]), two levels of water (well-watered vs drought) and two types of competition (wheat only; (W), and wheat × annual ryegrass; (W × R) with four replicates. The competition × [CO] interaction had a significant effect on wheat grain protein content, where it was increased in W × R under both e[CO] (+17%) and a[CO] (+21%). Grain yield, total grain reducing power and phenolic content were significantly affected by [CO] × drought × competition. In a summary, annual ryegrass competition significantly altered the wheat grain quality under both [CO] levels (depending on the soil water level), while also decreasing the grain yield

Decision Support Systems for Weed Management

Editors: Guillermo R. Chantre, José L. González-Andújar.Weed management Decision Support Systems (DSS) are increasingly important computer-based tools for modern agriculture. Nowadays, extensive agriculture has become highly dependent on external inputs and both economic costs, as well the negative environmental impact of agricultural activities, demands knowledge-based technology for the optimization and protection of non-renewable resources. In this context, weed management strategies should aim to maximize economic profit by preserving and enhancing agricultural systems. Although previous contributions focusing on weed biology and weed management provide valuable insight on many aspects of weed species ecology and practical guides for weed control, no attempts have been made to highlight the forthcoming importance of DSS in weed management. This book is a first attempt to integrate 'concepts and practice' providing a novel guide to the state-of-art of DSS and the future prospects which hopefully would be of interest to higher-level students, academics and professionals in related areas

Weed ecology and weed management strategies for dry-seeded rice in Asia

Rice is a principal source of food for more than half of the world population, and more than 90% of rice worldwide is grown and consumed in Asia. A change in establishment method from manual transplanting of rice seedlings to dry-seeded rice (DSR) has occurred in some countries as growers respond to increased costs or decreased availability of labor or water. However, weeds are a major constraint to DSR production because of the absence of the size differential between the crop and the weeds and the suppressive effect of standing water on weed growth at crop establishment. Herbicides are used to control weeds in DSR, but because of concerns about the evolution of herbicide resistance and a scarcity of new and effective herbicides, there is a need to integrate other weed management strategies with herbicide use. In addition, because of the variability in the growth habit of weeds, any single method of weed control cannot provide effective and season-long control in DSR. Various weed management approaches need to be integrated to achieve effective, sustainable, and long-term weed control in DSR. These approaches may include tillage systems; the use of crop residue; the use of weed-competitive cultivars with high-yield potential; appropriate water depth and duration; appropriate agronomic practices, such as row spacing and seeding rates; manual or mechanical weeding; and appropriate herbicide timing, rotation, and combination. This article aims to provide a logical perspective of what can be done to improve weed management strategies in DSR

Glyphosate Resistance in Sonchus oleraceus and Alternative Herbicide Options for Its Control in Southeast Australia

Sonchus oleraceus is becoming a hard-to-control weed in Australian cropping systems, especially in glyphosate-tolerant cotton and during summer fallows. Several biotypes of this weed have developed resistance to glyphosate as a result of common management practices under conservation agriculture systems in the country. A series of pot experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of temperature on glyphosate efficacy and performance of several post-emergence and pre-emergence herbicides on a glyphosate-resistant (GR) and a glyphosate-susceptible (GS) biotype of S. oleraceus. At low temperatures (19–24 °C), no plants of the GS biotype survived glyphosate application at 570 g/ha; however, in the high-temperature regime (28–30 °C), 83% of the plants survived this rate of glyphosate. Similarly, for the GR biotype, up to 58% of the plants survived at 2280 g/ha of glyphosate when applied during the high-temperature regime and no plants survived this rate during the low-temperature regime. A number of post-emergence herbicides were found to be effective for S. oleraceus control. However, herbicide application delayed to the six-leaf stage compared with the four-leaf stage reduced control, especially for bromoxynil and saflufenacil herbicides. Glufosinate and paraquat were the most effective herbicides for S. oleraceus control, resulting in no seedling survival for both biotypes. Isoxaflutole, pendimethalin or s-metolachlor efficacy was not reduced by the presence of crop residue, suggesting that these herbicides could be used to control S. oleraceus in conservation agriculture systems. The results of this study suggest that growers will need to reduce over-reliance on glyphosate for weed control in summer fallows and use alternative post-emergence herbicides

Seed germination ecology of feather lovegrass [Eragrostis tenella (L.) Beauv. Ex Roemer & J.A. Schultes]

Feather lovegrass [Eragrostis tenella (L.) Beauv. Ex Roemer & J.A. Schultes] is a C grass weed that has the ability to grow in both lowland and upland conditions. Experiments were conducted in the laboratory and screenhouse to evaluate the effect of environmental factors on germination, emergence, and growth of this weed species. Germination in the light/dark regime was higher at alternating day/night temperatures of 30/20°C (98%) than at 35/25°C (83%) or 25/15°C (62%). Germination was completely inhibited by darkness. The osmotic potential and sodium chloride concentrations required for 50% inhibition of maximum germination were -0.7 MPa and 76 mM, respectively. The highest seedling emergence (69%) was observed from the seeds sown on the soil surface and no seedlings emerged from seeds buried at depths of 0.5 cm or more. The use of residue as mulches significantly reduced the emergence and biomass of feather lovegrass seedlings. A residue amount of 0.5 t ha was needed to suppress 50% of the maximum seedlings. Because germination was strongly stimulated by light and seedling emergence was the highest for the seeds sown on the soil surface, feather lovegrass is likely to become a problematic weed in zero-till systems. The knowledge gained from this study could help in developing effective and sustainable weed management strategies

Growth response of itchgrass (Rottboellia cochinchinensis) to water stress

Greenhouse studies were conducted to evaluate the growth response of itchgrass to water stress. Itchgrass plants produced the greatest aboveground biomass and seeds at 75% of field capacity and these parameters at 50 and 100% of field capacity were similar. With further increase in water stress, seed production was sharply reduced, but itchgrass was still able to produce an average of 63 and 9 seeds plant-1 at 25 and 12.5% of field capacity, respectively. Itchgrass plants responded to increasing water stress with increased leaf weight ratio; it was 2.5 times greater at 12.5% of field capacity than at 100% of field capacity. In another study, compared with daily irrigation, intervals of 9 d between irrigations reduced aboveground biomass of itchgrass by 27% and 12-d intervals reduced aboveground biomass by 67%. Compared with the daily irrigation regime, itchgrass seed production was reduced by 61% at intervals of 12 d between irrigations; however, the weed plants produced a considerable number of seeds (153 seeds plant-1) at the 12-d intervals. The ability of itchgrass to produce biomass and seeds under water stressed conditions necessitates strategies that minimize weed survival while maximizing irrigation efficiency for the crop at the same time

Effect of salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) concentration on germination of feather lovegrass seeds after 15 days of incubation at 30/20 °C day/night temperature.

<p>The line represents a three-parameter sigmoid model, <i>y</i>=<i>Gmax</i>/{1+<i>exp</i>[−(<i>x</i>−<i>C</i>0)/<i>b</i>]}, fitted to the data, where <i>y</i> is the total germination (%) at NaCl concentration <i>x</i>, <i>Gmax</i> is the maximum germination (%), <i>C0</i> is the NaCl concentration required for 50% inhibition of maximum germination, and <i>b</i> indicates the slope. </p

Effect of osmotic potential on germination of feather lovegrass seeds after 15 days of incubation at 30/20 °C day/night temperature.

<p>The line represents a linear model, <i>y</i>=(<i>ax</i>+<i>b</i>), fitted to the data, where <i>y</i> represents germination (%) at osmotic potential <i>x</i>. </p