Two series of experiments with a tractor-mounted prototype of a dibber drill (MK III) are presented. In the first series, three crop establishment procedures were compared over 2 years at five different sowing dates in sugar beet and direct-sown onion. The crop establishment procedures were as follows: (i) normal sowing and mechanical control of weeds in the stale seedbed (N), (ii) N + pre-emergence flame weeding (N + F) and (iii) punch planting and flame weeding to control weeds in the seedbed prior to crop emergence (P + F). The difference between N and N + F treatments quantifies the effect of pre-emergence flame weeding, and the difference between N + F and P + F quantifies the effect of punch planting. Punch planting reduced the average intra-row weed density by 37% in onion but had no main effect in sugar beet.
In the second series of experiments in carrot, which compared the N + F and the P + F treatments only, punch planting reduced the average intra-row weed density by 34%. Pre-emergence flame weeding reduced the average weed density by 59% in onion and by 47% in sugar beet. Delayed sowing without pre-emergence flame weeding only reduced weed emergence in 1 of 2 years, whereas delayed sowing had a more pronounced effect in flame-weeded (N + F) and punch-planted plots (P + F). In sugar beet and onion, there were complex interactions between crop establishment procedure, year and delayed sowing, which are partly explained by weather conditions and species-specific germination patterns.
It was concluded that technical improvements to the dibber drill (MK III) are required to take advantage of punch planting to reduce intra-row weed densities.
Source
Weed Research (2011) Online, ahead of print
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3180.2011.00858.x
Author Locations and Affiliations
(1) Department of Agriculture and Ecology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
(2) Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Hohenheim, Germany
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