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Determination of the Critical Period for Weed Control in Corn

2013; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 27; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1614/wt-d-12-00059.1

1550-2740

Geoffroy Gantoli, Víctor Rueda Ayala, Roland Gerhards,

Allelopathy and phytotoxic interactions

Field experiments were conducted in western Atakora, Benin, to determine the critical time period of weed competition in hand-weeded corn. Weeds were removed until different crop growth stages and then allowed to reemerge. Other treatments began weed control at different growth stages (four-, eight-, and ten-leaf stages and flowering) and were maintained until harvest. One treatment was permanently kept weed-free and one treatment was uncontrolled until harvest. Yields without weed competition ranged from 2.8 to 3.4 t ha −1 . As expected, yield loss increased with duration of weed infestation and ranged from 38 to 65% compared to permanent weed-free plots. In three out of four site-years, the critical period for weed control started at the four- to six-leaf stage and continued until ten-leaf stage or flowering of corn. Approximately four hand-weeding applications were required in this critical period of weed control.