The effectiveness of weed regulation methods in spring wheat cultivated in integrated, conventional and organic crop production systems

The research was conducted from 2008 to 2010, and compared the influence of different weed control methods used in spring wheat on the structure of the weed communities and the crop yield. The study was carried out at the Experimental Station of the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute in Osiny as part of a long-term trial where these crop production systems had been compared since 1994. In the conventional and integrated systems, spring wheat was grown in a pure stand, whereas in the organic system, the wheat was grown with undersown clover and grasses. In the conventional system, herbicides were applied two times in a growing season, but in the integrated system - only once. The effectiveness of weed management was lower in the organic system than in other systems, but the dry matter of weeds did not exceed 60 g/m2. In the integrated system, the average dry matter of weeds in spring wheat was 4 times lower, and in the conventional system 10 times lower than in the organic system. Weed diversity was the largest in spring wheat cultivated in the organic system. In the conventional and integrated systems, compensation of some weed species was observed (Viola arvensis, Fallopia convolvulus, Equisetum arvense). The comparison of weed communities using Sorenson’s indices revealed more of a similarity between systems in terms of number of weed species than in the number of individuals. Such results imply that qualitative changes are slower than quantitative ones. The yield of grain was the biggest in the integrated system (5.5 t/ha of average). It was 35% higher than in the organic system, and 20% higher than in conventional ones.