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Mechanical weed control practices for Miscanthus x giganteus

 

The goal of the research was to investigate the possibilities of mechanical weed control practices in one-year-old miscanthus plantations. For this purpose, a system of consecutive cultivations using cultivator KPH-4.2 to a depth of 6-8 cm (treatment 2), chain harrow (treatment 3), and manual cutting of aerial parts of the weeds at the surface (treatment 4) were carried out. Cultivation between rows was carried consecutively three times at intervals of 15 days. The first cultivation was carried out after 10th May at the stage of weeds development cotyledon to the four-leaf stage and had a height of 1 to 5 cm.

On the average of the years of research, the number of weeds in the control treatment was 103.1 per m2 and weight
2636 g per m2. Of these, the largest share in the structure of weed mass had goosefoot (382 g/m2, 14.6 %), green amaranth (273 g/m2, 10.4 %, black nightshade (316 g/m2, 12.1 %), sow thistle (261 g/m2, 10 %), and barnyard grass (210 g/m2, 8 %).

Cultivator razors (treatment 2) provided intensive displacement and mixing of the soil. The decrease in the number of weeds taking into account emergence of their new sprouts during the cultivation period over the years of research averaged 77.8 %. Of the weed species emerged in the miscanthus sowings, the highest level of killing was recorded in following weeds:  catchweed 89 % field pennycress 86 %, green amaranth 85 %, field violet 85 %, goosefoot 83 %, and other species.

Chain harrows are the most efficient when applied in the cotyledon stage to four-leaf stage. The average level of weed-killing efficiency action after three consecutive harrowing with chain harrow had high repeatability. Decrease in the number of weeds over the years of research reached an average of 79.7 %. The most susceptible to the harrowing with chain harrow were sprouts of black nightshade (92 % killed), green amaranth (90 %), field violets (88 %), goosefoot (87 %), persicaria maculosa, field pennycress, catchweed (86 %), and others.

Of the applied mechanical weed control practices, the most efficient was consecutive cutting without mixing of the surface layer of soil and the stimulating emergence of new sprouts. The number of weeds decreased on the average by 83.6 %.

The value of the weed mass in miscanthus sowings as affected by various mechanical practices was not the same. Inter-row cultivation decreased weed mass of weeds 4 fold, chane harrow 4.5 fold, and consecutive cutting 6.2 fold as compared with the maximum value of  2636 g/m2.

Thus, the system of successive soil treatments in miscanthus sowings ensured reliable weed control over a long period (from early May to the mid-June). In the following periods, there were available ecological niches occupied by new sprouts of weeds. The intensity of germination of new weeds varied greatly by year of research and depended primarily on the available moisture in the upper soil layer and intensity of mixing topsoil during the previous tillage operations.

Key words: Weeds, mechanical weed control, miscanthus, inter-row tillage.

 

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