Journal
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
Volume 44, Issue 11, Pages 3538-3551Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/pce.14171
Keywords
environmental plasticity; light quality; weed competition; weed removal timing; yield potential
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture [2016-67013-24912]
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Western Sugar Cooperative
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This study found that early presence of weeds significantly reduces sugar beet growth, with implications for crop management and genetic improvement strategies. Sugar beet responds early and near-irreversibly to weed presence, affecting leaf and root biomasses.
Early-emerging weeds are known to negatively affect crop growth but the mechanisms by which weeds reduce crop yield are not fully understood. In a 4-year study, we evaluated the effect of duration of weed-reflected light on sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) growth and development. The study included an early-season weed removal series and a late-season weed addition series of treatments arranged in a randomized complete block, and the study design minimized direct resource competition. If weeds were present from emergence until the two true-leaf sugar beet stage, sugar beet leaf area was reduced 22%, leaf biomass reduced 25%, and root biomass reduced 32% compared to sugar beet grown season-long without surrounding weeds. Leaf area, leaf biomass, and root biomass was similar whether weeds were removed at the two true-leaf stage (approximately 330 GDD after planting) or allowed to remain until sugar beet harvest (approximately 1,240 GDD after planting). Adding weeds at the two true-leaf stage and leaving them until harvest (similar to 1,240 GDD) reduced sugar beet leaf and root biomass by 18% and 23%, respectively. This work suggests sugar beet responds early and near-irreversibly to weed presence and has implications for crop management genetic improvement.
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