Effect of weed management practices on weed cover in field pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Abstract

Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) are planted on small area in Hungary, although it is a precious source of protein (22-28%), and it also plays a significant role like a component in fodder mixture and green forage. It is a great part in crop rotation as a short growing-season legume. Furthermore, it has beneficial effects of nitrogen-fixing nodules being able to obtain N derived from air. One of the most critical limiting factors is to find out weed management practise for control of weeds in field pea.

Our field experiment was carried out on site of the National Agricultural Research and Innovation Centre, the Department of Field Crops Research in Öthalom for comparing weed management strategies by evaluate their efficacy and weed flora. We used 6 herbicides or herbicid combination and observed weed density in 5 times during the growing season.

The most important weeds were: common chickweed (Stellaria media), wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis), branching lackspur (Consolida regalis), meldweed (Chenopodium album). Among the treatments the highest weed cover was the weedy check, followed by Stomp Super, obtained maximum weed control and long lasting effect. With the application of Basagran 480 SL and Pulsar 40 SL have a significantly lower weed density was recorded than preemergence applications. In case of Corum application, it was the lowest weed cover of all even at harvesting time. According to our experiments use of Dash does not control weeds considerably.