Mechanism of weed suppression in early vigour & weed suppressive wheat genotypes

Field trials were performed in 2014‐15 as part of the UCS 00200 research project evaluating mechanisms of weed suppression in diverse wheat genotypes in both Wagga Wagga and Condobolin NSW. Crop and/or weed growth were monitored at 4 stages of growth at each location: early season (tillering), grain filling stages, crop maturity at harvest and also postharvest to the crop. Field trials have demonstrated significant differences between wheat cultivars in crop biomass, growth vigour, yield, leaf area index (LAI), weed suppression, weed count and biomass. It is likely that these cultivar competitive traits are clearly influenced by both genotype and environmental factors, as shown by differences in cultivar performance among the two locations. Cultivars that performed well in terms of crop biomass, yield and weed suppression in both locations included Espada, Condo and to a lesser extent, Janz. Additional experimentation using metabolomics to profile primary and secondary metabolite differences among cultivars, locations, plant part and timing of collection will be performed using LC‐MS QToF for metabolite profiling. This will provide important information regarding crop physiological and biosynthetic differences that may impact crop competitive traits against common weed species