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Why Early Season Weed Control Is Important in Maize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Eric R. Page ,
Diego Cerrudo ,
Philip Westra ,
Mark Loux ,
Kenneth Smith ,
Chuck Foresman ,
Harold Wright  and
Clarence J. Swanton
Eric R. Page
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Greenhouse and Crops Processing Centre, 2585 County Road 20, Harrow, Ontario, Canada, N0R 1G0
Diego Cerrudo
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
Philip Westra
Affiliation:
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, 1177 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Mark Loux
Affiliation:
Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
Kenneth Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Crop Soils and Environmental Sciences, University of Arkansas, 1366 West Altheimer Drive, Fayetteville, AR 72704
Chuck Foresman
Affiliation:
Syngenta USA
Harold Wright
Affiliation:
Syngenta Crop Protection Canada
Clarence J. Swanton*
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: cswanton@uoguelph.ca
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Abstract

Control of early-emerging weeds is essential to protect the yield potential of maize. An understanding of the physiological changes that occur as a result of weed interference is required to address variability in yield loss across sites and years. Field trials were conducted at the University of Guelph (UG), the Ohio State University (OSU), and Colorado State University (CSU) during 2009 and 2010. There were six treatments (season-long weedy and weed-free, and weed control at the 1st-, 3rd-, 5th-, and 10th-leaf-tip stages of maize development) and 20 individual plants per plot were harvested at maturity. We hypothesized that, as weed control was delayed, weed interference in the early stages of maize development would increase plant-to-plant variability in plant dry-matter accumulation, which would result in a reduction of grain yield at maturity. The onset of the critical period for weed control (CPWC) occurred on average between the third and fifth leaf tip stages of development (i.e., V1 to V3, respectively). Rate of yield loss following the onset of the CPWC ranged from 0.05 MG ha−1 d−1 at UG 2009 to 0.22 MG ha−1 d−1 at CSU 2010 (i.e., 0.5 and 1.6% d−1, respectively). On average, reductions in kernel number per plant accounted for approximately 65% of the decline in grain yield as weed control was delayed. Biomass partitioning to the grain was stable through early weed removal treatments, increased and peaked at the 10th-leaf-tip time of control, and decreased in the season-long weedy treatment. Plant-to-plant variability in dry matter at maturity and incidence of bareness increased as weed control was delayed. As weed control was delayed, the contribution of plant-to-plant variability at maturity to the overall yield loss was small, relative to the decline of mean plant dry matter.

Keywords

AtrazineglyphosatemesotrioneS-metolachlormaize, Zea mays LZea mayscornweed interferenceyield lossharvest indexkernel numberkernel weightplant-to-plant variabilityreproductive allometry
Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Information
Weed Science , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 423 - 430
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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