Lopsided oat (Avena strigosa) as a new summer annual cover crop for weed suppression in Central Europe
2012
Brust, Jochen | Gerhards, Roland
Lopsided oat (Avena strigosa) has been cultivated for many years, especially in Brazil, as a summer annual cover crop. Experiments were conducted in Stuttgart-Hohenheim in 2010 to estimate the capability of lopsided oat, yellow mustard (Sinapis alba), phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) and a cover crop mixture to suppress weeds and volunteer wheat. A pot experiment was conducted to analyze the emergence and growth of the different cover crop species. Twelve weeks after planting, lopsided oat produced 20.7 dt/ha of shoot- and 5.5 dt/ha of root dry matter. A field experiment was established in the summer after harvest of winter wheat. The soil was cultivated with a disc harrow and the cover crops were sown one day later. At four week intervals, the plant density and dry matter of cover crops, weeds and volunteer wheat were determined. Twelve weeks after planting, lopsided oat produced 17.8 dt/ha shoot- and 6.2 dt/ha root dry matter. In the lopsided oat plots, shoot dry matter of weeds and volunteer wheat were reduced by 98 % compared with control plots without cover crops. This was the highest weed reduction of all cover crops studied. The root dry matter of weeds and volunteer wheat was reduced by 55 % to 97 % in all cover crops, compared to the control plots. Lopsided oat reduced the plant density of weeds and volunteer wheat. While there were 54.5 plants/m² in the control plots, only 5.5 plants/m² were counted in the lopsided oat plots. The results showed that lopsided oat has a high potential for suppression of weeds and volunteer wheat in autumn. It also enlarges the number of cultivated cover crops in Central Europe.
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