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Article Dans Une Revue European Journal of Agronomy Année : 2015

Undersowing winter oilseed rape with frost-sensitive legume living mulches to improve weed control

Mathieu Lorin
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Arnaud Butier
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Muriel Morison

Résumé

Living mulches are generally seen as a possible way to decrease the reliance on pesticides. We investigated the effect of a frost-sensitive legume living mulch on weed control during the autumn and cash crop performance, in winter oilseed rape crops. A field trial was carried out over two years, comparing seven legume species-fenugreek, spring faba bean, grass pea, lentil, field pea, berseem clover and spring common vetch-and three legume mixtures, as living mulches, in crops with two levels of soil mineral nitrogen content before sowing. The presence of the legume living mulch decreased weed abundance before winter. Field pea, berseem clover, common vetch and the common vetch/faba bean/berseem clover mixture were particularly effective, regardless of the growing conditions, decreasing weed abundance by 20-75% with respect to that in the crop grown alone, in the absence of herbicide application. Weed abundance before winter was negatively correlated with total intercrop biomass, and this relationship was dependent on the legume species considered and soil mineral nitrogen content. As with other legume intercrops, the level of soil mineral nitrogen had a strong influence on intercrop structure, modifying the proportion of legume biomass produced. The legume/oilseed rape biomass ratio was also found to be a useful indicator in all growing conditions: the higher the ratio, the more efficient the weed control. However, a high ratio was associated with a higher risk of competition with the cash crop. The choice of the most appropriate legume living mulch is therefore a compromise between the anticipated ecosystem services and the potential disservices provided by the legume mulch. The introduction of a legume living mulch did not entirely prevent weed growth, but was clearly a relevant agroecological solution for decreasing herbicide, while increasing the sustainability and diversity of weed-control strategies in cropping systems.
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Dates et versions

hal-01536567 , version 1 (11-06-2017)

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Citer

Mathieu Lorin, Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy, Arnaud Butier, Muriel Morison. Undersowing winter oilseed rape with frost-sensitive legume living mulches to improve weed control. European Journal of Agronomy, 2015, 71, pp.96-105. ⟨10.1016/j.eja.2015.09.001⟩. ⟨hal-01536567⟩
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