Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T10:53:41.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nitrogen fertilizer timing and application method affect weed growth and competition with spring wheat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert E. Blackshaw ,
Louis J. Molnar  and
H. Henry Janzen
Louis J. Molnar
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, P.O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
H. Henry Janzen
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, P.O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Managing crop fertilization may be an important component of integrated weed management systems that protect crop yield and reduce weed populations over time. A field study was conducted to determine the effects of various timings and application methods of nitrogen (N) fertilizer on weed growth and spring wheat yield. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied the previous fall (October) or at planting (May) at a dose of 50 kg ha−1. Nitrogen application treatments consisted of granular ammonium nitrate applied broadcast on the soil surface, banded 10 cm deep between every crop row, banded 10 cm deep between every second crop row, or point-injected liquid ammonium nitrate placed between every second crop row at 20-cm intervals and 10 cm deep. Treatments were applied in 4 consecutive yr to determine annual and cumulative effects over years. Density and biomass of wild oat, green foxtail, wild mustard, and common lambsquarters were sometimes lower with spring- than with fall-applied N. Spring wheat yield was never lower and was higher in 50% of the cases, when N was spring rather than fall applied. Nitrogen application method generally had larger and more consistent effects than application timing on weed growth and wheat yield. Shoot N concentration and biomass of weeds were often lower with subsurface banded or point-injected N than with surface broadcast N, and concurrent increases in spring wheat yield usually occurred with these N placement treatments. Depending on the weed species, the weed seedbank at the conclusion of the 4-yr study was reduced by 25 to 63% with point-injected compared with broadcast N. Information gained in this study will contribute to the development of more integrated and cost-effective weed management programs in wheat.

Keywords

Common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. CHEALgreen foxtail, Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. SETVIwild mustard, Brassica kaber (DC.) L. C. Wheeler SINARwild oat, Avena fatua L. AVEFAspring wheat, Triticum aestivum L. ‘Katepwa’Banded fertilizerfertilizer placementweed interferenceweed N concentrationwheat
Type
Weed Management
Information
Weed Science , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , August 2004 , pp. 614 - 622
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Agenbag, G. A. and Villiers, O. T. 1989. The effect of nitrogen fertilizers on the germination and seedling emergence of wild oat (Avena fatua L.) seed in different soil types. Weed Res 29:239–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angonin, C., Caussanel, J. P., and Meynard, J. M. 1996. Competition between winter wheat and Veronica hederifolia: influence of weed density and the amount and timing of nitrogen application. Weed Res 36:175–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackshaw, R. E., Brandt, R. N., Janzen, H. H., Entz, T., Grant, C. A., and Derksen, D. A. 2003. Differential response of weed species to added nitrogen. Weed Sci 51:532–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackshaw, R. E., Semach, G., and Janzen, H. H. 2002. Fertilizer application method affects nitrogen uptake in weeds and wheat. Weed Sci 50:634–641.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackshaw, R. E., Semach, G., Li, X., O'Donovan, J. T., and Harker, K. N. 2000a. Tillage, fertiliser and glyphosate timing effects on foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum) management in wheat. Can. J. Plant Sci 80:655–660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackshaw, R. E., Semach, G. P., and O'Donovan, J. T. 2000b. Utilization of wheat seed rate to manage redstem filaree (Erodium cicutarium) in a zero-till cropping system. Weed Technol 14:389–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochran, V. L., Morrow, L. A., and Schirman, R. D. 1990. The effect of N placement on grass weeds and winter wheat in three tillage systems. Soil Tillage Res 18:347–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dhima, K. V. and Eleftherohorinos, I. G. 2001. Influence of nitrogen on competition between winter cereals and sterile oat. Weed Sci 49:77–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Tomaso, J. M. 1995. Approaches for improving crop competitiveness through the manipulation of fertilization strategies. Weed Sci 43:491–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ervio, L. R. and Salonen, J. 1987. Changes in the weed population of spring cereals in Finland. Ann. Agric. Fenn 26:201–226.Google Scholar
Forcella, F. 1984. Wheat and ryegrass competition for pulses of mineral nitrogen. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb 24:421–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez Ponce, R. 1998. Competition between barley and Lolium rigidum for nitrate. Weed Res 38:453–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hewson, R. T. and Roberts, H. A. 1973. Some effects of weed competition on the growth of onions. J. Hortic. Sci 48:51–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, H. H. and Lindwall, C. W. 1989. Optimum application parameters for point injection of nitrogen in winter wheat. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J 53:1878–1883.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janzen, H. H., Lindwall, C. W., and Roppel, C. J. 1990. Relative efficiency of point-injection and surface applications for N fertilization of winter wheat. Can. J. Soil Sci 70:189–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jornsgard, B., Rasmussen, K., Hill, J., and Christiansen, J. L. 1996. Influence of nitrogen on competition between cereals and their natural weed populations. Weed Res 36:461–470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirkland, K. J. and Beckie, H. J. 1998. Contribution of nitrogen fertilizer placement to weed management in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum). Weed Technol 12:507–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kucey, R. M. N. and Schaalje, G. B. 1986. Comparison of nitrogen fertilizer methods for irrigated barley in the northern great plains. Agron. J 78:1091–1094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebman, M., Mohler, C. L., and Staver, C. P. 2001. Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds. Cambridge, Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 139–209, 269–321.Google Scholar
Mesbah, A. O. and Miller, S. D. 1999. Fertilizer placement affects jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica) competition in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum). Weed Technol 13:374–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morales-Payan, J. P., Santos, B. M., Stall, W. M., and Bewick, T. A. 1998. Interference of purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) population densities on bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) yield as influenced by nitrogen. Weed Technol 12:230–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qasem, J. R. 1992. Nutrient accumulation by weeds and their associated vegetable crops. J. Hortic. Sci 67:189–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rao, S. C. and Dao, T. H. 1996. Nitrogen placement and tillage effects on dry matter and nitrogen accumulation and redistribution in winter wheat. Agron. J 88:365–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, P. E. 1995. Effects of fertilizer and stubble burning on downy brome competition in winter wheat. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal 26:951–960.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, K., Rasmussen, J., and Petersen, J. 1996. Effects of fertilizer placement on weeds in weed harrowed spring barley. Acta Agric. Scand. Sect. B Soil Plant Sci 45:1–5.Google Scholar
Raun, W. R. and Johnson, G. V. 1999. Improving nitrogen use efficiency for cereal production. Agron. J 9:357–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinertsen, M. R., Cochran, V. L., and Morrow, L. A. 1984. Response of spring wheat to N fertilizer placement, row spacing, and wild oat herbicides in a no-till system. Agron. J 76:753–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, T. L., Janzen, H. H., and Lindwall, C. W. 1992. Nitrogen fertilization of spring wheat by point-injection. J. Prod. Agric 5:586–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[SAS] Statistical Analysis Systems. 1999. SAS/STAT User's Guide. Version 8. Cary, NC: Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 3884 p.Google Scholar
Shipley, B. and Keddy, P. A. 1988. The relationship between relative growth rate and sensitivity to nutrient stress in twenty-eight species of emergent macrophytes. J. Ecol 76:1101–1110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steel, R. G. D. and Torrie, J. H. 1980. Multiple comparisons. Pages 173–177 in Principles and Procedures of Statistics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Supasilapa, S., Steer, B. T., and Milroy, S. P. 1992. Competition between lupin (Lupinus angustifolia L.) and great brome (Bromus diandrus Roth.): development of leaf area, light interception and yields. Aust. J. Exp. Agric 32:71–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Delden, A., Lotz, L. A., Bastiaans, L., Franke, A. C., Smid, H. G., Groeneveld, R. M. W., and Kropff, M. J. 2002. The influence of nitrogen supply on the ability of wheat and potato to suppress Stellaria media growth and reproduction. Weed Res 42:429–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar