Especially during
early developmental stages, competition with weeds can reduce crop growth and have
a serious effect on productivity. Here, the effects of interactions between
soil water content (SWC), nutrient availability, and competition from weeds on
early stage crop growth were investigated, to better understand this problem.
Field experiments were conducted in 2013 and 2014 using long-term study plots
on loam soil in Hungary. Plots of maize (Zea mays L.) and a weed-maize
combination were exposed to five fertilization treatments. SWC was observed
along the 0–80 cm depth soil profile and harvested aboveground biomass (HAB)
was measured.
Significant
differences were found between SWC in maize and maize-weed plots. In all
treatments, measured SWC was most variable in soil depths of up to 50 cm, and
at the 8–10 leaves (BBCH19) growth stage of the crop. The greatest depletion of
SWC was detected within PK treatments across the entire soil profile and under
both vegetation types, with depletion also considerable under NPK and NP
treatments. Biomass growth was significantly influenced by weeds in treated
plots between the BBCH 13 and 19 phenological stages, but water availability
did not hamper growth rates in non-fertilized conditions. These findings
suggest that, at early stages of crop growth, SWC model simulations need to include
better characterisation of depth- and structure-dependent soil water uptake by
vegetation.
More details in: Lehoczky, É., Kamuti, M., Mazsu, N., Sándor, R. 2016. Changes to soil water content and biomass yield under
combined maize and maize-weed vegetation with different fertilization
treatments in loam soil. J. Hydrol.Hydromech., 64. DOI: 10.1515/johh-2016-0015
