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Sweet corn hybrid tolerance to weed competition under three weed management levels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

R.A. Boydston  and
M.M. Williams II
R.A. Boydston*
Affiliation:
Agronomist, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 24106 N Bun Road, Prosser, WA, 99350, USA.
M.M. Williams II
Affiliation:
Ecologist, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
*
*Corresponding author: rick.boydston@ars.usda.gov
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Abstract

Nearly all commercial sweet corn fields contain weeds that escaped management and, therefore, sweet corn often suffers yield losses due to weed competition. For this reason, field trials were conducted from 2009 to 2011 near Prosser, WA and Urbana, IL to evaluate the responses of weeds and four sweet corn hybrids to three levels of weed management; weed free, high intensity cultivation (HC), and low intensity cultivation (LC). Weed management level had the greatest impact on early season weed densities and HC reduced final weed biomass more than LC in 2 of 4 site-years. Two taller sweet corn hybrids with greater leaf area suppressed final weed biomass more than two shorter hybrids with less leaf area in 3 of 4 site-years. When grown with less intense weed management that resulted in more weeds, taller sweet corn hybrids with greater leaf area maintained yields better than shorter, less competitive sweet corn hybrids. Utilizing hybrids with greater tolerance to weeds and greater ability to suppress weeds could be a valuable component of an integrated weed management system.

Keywords

crop competitioncrop tolerancecultivationrelative yieldsweet cornZea mays Lweed competitionweed managementweed suppressive ability
Type
Research Papers
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 281 - 287
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Creative Commons
This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015

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