TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of barley cultivars for competitive traits in southern New South Wales
AU - Mwendwa, James M.
AU - Brown, William B.
AU - Weston, Paul A.
AU - Weston, Leslie A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 -
The potential of multi-purpose barley (Hordeum vulgare
L.) cultivars to suppress weeds while maintaining optimal yield and
grain quality has been reported but not recently evaluated in replicated
field trials performed under southern Australian field conditions.
Therefore, to investigate this potential, aboveground competitive traits
were assessed in nine genetically diverse commercial barley cultivars
in 2015, 2016 and 2017, in two locations in the Riverina region of NSW
in replicated field trials performed in the absence of pre-emergent
herbicide treatment. Crop and weed establishment, early vigour, leaf
area index, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and biomass were
assessed at various crop growth stages, including early growth,
vegetative, flowering, grain fill and harvest. Cultivar differences in
crop and weed biomass accumulation at ~50, 100 and 150 days after
planting were noted at both locations. Early barley biomass accumulation
was inversely related to weed biomass in both locations and most years,
suggesting strong (over 90%) potential for heritable competitive barley
interference against weeds. The current study also observed a positive
relationship between PAR light interception and crop biomass in all
three years at both locations, suggesting that PAR light interception
contributed positively to crop biomass accumulation by directly
increasing photosynthesis (50–70%) and growth or indirectly influencing
weed biomass accumulation (10–15%) and weed interference (50–75).
Partial least squares modelling was performed with 2015 and 2016
datasets to assess the interactions between crop developmental traits
and weed suppression. Cultivars exhibiting enhanced early vigour and PAR
light interception were generally more weed suppressive under optimal
higher soil moisture conditions. Our results indicate that the choice of
barley cultivar has a significant impact on weed establishment,
fecundity and seedbank dynamics. The use of competitive barley genotypes
is, thus, a cost-effective strategy to reduce weed seedbank numbers
over time and may reduce potential herbicide use.
AB -
The potential of multi-purpose barley (Hordeum vulgare
L.) cultivars to suppress weeds while maintaining optimal yield and
grain quality has been reported but not recently evaluated in replicated
field trials performed under southern Australian field conditions.
Therefore, to investigate this potential, aboveground competitive traits
were assessed in nine genetically diverse commercial barley cultivars
in 2015, 2016 and 2017, in two locations in the Riverina region of NSW
in replicated field trials performed in the absence of pre-emergent
herbicide treatment. Crop and weed establishment, early vigour, leaf
area index, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and biomass were
assessed at various crop growth stages, including early growth,
vegetative, flowering, grain fill and harvest. Cultivar differences in
crop and weed biomass accumulation at ~50, 100 and 150 days after
planting were noted at both locations. Early barley biomass accumulation
was inversely related to weed biomass in both locations and most years,
suggesting strong (over 90%) potential for heritable competitive barley
interference against weeds. The current study also observed a positive
relationship between PAR light interception and crop biomass in all
three years at both locations, suggesting that PAR light interception
contributed positively to crop biomass accumulation by directly
increasing photosynthesis (50–70%) and growth or indirectly influencing
weed biomass accumulation (10–15%) and weed interference (50–75).
Partial least squares modelling was performed with 2015 and 2016
datasets to assess the interactions between crop developmental traits
and weed suppression. Cultivars exhibiting enhanced early vigour and PAR
light interception were generally more weed suppressive under optimal
higher soil moisture conditions. Our results indicate that the choice of
barley cultivar has a significant impact on weed establishment,
fecundity and seedbank dynamics. The use of competitive barley genotypes
is, thus, a cost-effective strategy to reduce weed seedbank numbers
over time and may reduce potential herbicide use.
KW - Canopy traits
KW - Crop competition
KW - Herbicides
KW - PAR light interception
KW - Weed seedbank
KW - Weed suppressive
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U2 - 10.3390/plants11030362
DO - 10.3390/plants11030362
M3 - Article
C2 - 35161343
AN - SCOPUS:85123507467
SN - 2223-7747
VL - 11
JO - Plants
JF - Plants
IS - 3
M1 - 362
ER -