Determination of the critical period for weed control in corn

Publikations-Art

Zeitschriftenbeitrag (peer-reviewed)

Autoren

Geoffroy Gantoli and Victor Rueda Ayala and Roland Gerhards

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Veröffentlicht in

Weed Technology

Herausgeber

Weed Science Society of America

Band/Volume

27/1

DOI

10.1614/WT-D-12-00059.1

Seite (von - bis)

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.