Cultural weed control systems comprising winter barley as a cover crop and narrow-row in no-tillage soybean

Abstract

We evaluated the weed control efficacy of several cultural systems comprising winter barley as a cover crop, narrow-row, band application of herbicide, and/or mechanical mowing in no-tillage soybean. A two-year field study was conducted for evaluation. Efficacy of winter barley for weed suppression was much greater than that of the other practices. The soybean yield was also higher in the winter barley systems than in the single-crop systems. Greatest weed suppression and the highest soybean yield were attained in the system comprising winter barley, band application of herbicide, and mechanical weeding. The combination of winter barley and narrow-row soybean provided high soybean yield and appreciable weed suppression despite a lack of herbicide application and mechanical mowing.