Determination of the critical period for weed control in corn

Publication Type

Journal contribution (peer reviewed)

Authors

Geoffroy Gantoli and Victor Rueda Ayala and Roland Gerhards

Year of publication

2013

Published in

Weed Technology

Editor

Weed Science Society of America

Band/Volume

27/1

DOI

10.1614/WT-D-12-00059.1

Page (from - to)

63-71

Field experiments were conducted in West Atacora, 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 re-emerge. Other treatments began weed control at different growth stages (4-, 8-, and 10-leaf stage and flowering) and were maintained until harvest. One treatment was permanently kept weed-free and one treatment was noncontrolled until harvest. Yields without weed competition ranged from 2.8-3.4 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 4-6-leaf stage and continued until 10-leaf stage or flowering of maize. Approximately four hand-weeding applications were required in this critical period of weed control.