ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Combination of cover crops and bacterial consortia reduce weediness in organic spelt wheat in Central Europe
1
Faculty of Engineering and Economics, Ignacy Mościcki University of Applied Sciences in Ciechanów, Ciechanów, Poland
2
Department of Soil Science and Microbiology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poznań, Poland
3
Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Siedlce, Siedlce, Poland
These authors had equal contribution to this work
A - Research concept and design; B - Collection and/or assembly of data; C - Data analysis and interpretation; D - Writing the article; E - Critical revision of the article; F - Final approval of article
Submission date: 2024-11-13
Acceptance date: 2025-02-10
Online publication date: 2025-09-04
Corresponding author
Rafał Górski
Faculty of Engineering and Economics, Ignacy Mościcki University of Applied Sciences in Ciechanów, Ciechanów, Poland
Faculty of Engineering and Economics, Ignacy Mościcki University of Applied Sciences in Ciechanów, Ciechanów, Poland
HIGHLIGHTS
- Bacterial consortia decrease weed infestation in spelt wheat
- Cover crop plowing reduces weed invasion
- Bacterial consortia and cover crops as alternative to chemical plant protection
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Cultivation technologies based on the use of microbiological preparations or the introduction
of cover crops in organic farming are alternatives to chemical plant protection
products. To confirm this hypothesis, field studies were conducted in central Poland in
2019–2022 to determine the effect of bacterial consortia and green fertilizers from cover
crops on the dry mass, abundance and species composition of dominant weed species occurring
in spelt wheat grown in organic farming. Two factors were researched: I. Bacterial
consortia: control treatment (no bacteria), bacterial consortium I (Azotobacter chroococcum
+ Azospirillum lipoferum Br17), bacterial consortium II (Bacillus megaterium var.
phosphaticum + Arthrobacter agilis), bacterial consortium III (Azotobacter chroococcum
+ Azospirillum lipoferum Br17 + Bacillus megaterium var. phosphaticum + Arthrobacter
agilis), II. Cover crops: control treatment (no cover crops), red clover, red clover + Italian
ryegrass, and Italian ryegrass. Spelt wheat was harvested in late July. Just before harvesting,
weeds were sampled to determine their dry matter, number, and species composition. The
research clearly demonstrated that the application of bacterial consortia with cover crops
significantly reduced the dry matter and number of weeds, including the dominant species.
The greatest reduction in weed number was recorded in treatments after the application
of bacterial consortium III in combination with plowing cover crops of red clover and
a mixture of red clover and Italian ryegrass.
RESPONSIBLE EDITOR
Kinga Matysiak
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors have declared that no conflict of interests exist.
REFERENCES (46)
1.
Abbas T., Naveed M., Siddique S., Aziz M.Z., Khan K.S., Zhang J.J., Mustafa A., Sardar, M.F. 2020. Biological weeds control in rice (Oryza sativa) using beneficial plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. International Journal Of Agriculture & Biology 23: 552–558. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17957/IJAB/....
2.
Abbas T., Zahir A.Z., Naveed M. 2017. Bioherbicidal activity of allelopathic bacteria against weeds associated with wheat and their effects on growth of wheat under axenic conditions. BioControl 62: 719–730. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526....
3.
Ahemad M., Kibret M. 2014. Mechanisms and applications of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria: Current perspective. Journal of King Saud University-Science 26 (1): 1–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksu....
4.
Anderson R.L. 2015. Suppressing weed growth after wheat harvest with underseeded red clover in organic farming. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 31 (3): 185–190. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S17421....
5.
Artyszak A., Gozdowski D. 2021. Application of growth activators and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria as a method of introducing a “farm to fork” strategy in crop management of winter oilseed. Sustainability 13 (6): 3562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su1306....
6.
Balbinot A.A., Jr. Fleck N.G. 2005. Weed management in the corn crop through plant spatial arrangement and characteristics of genotypes. Ciência Rural 35 (1): 245–252. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/S0103-....
7.
Baris O., Sahin F., Turan M., Orhan F., Gulluce M. 2014. Use of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) seed inoculation as alternative fertilizer inputs in wheat and barley production. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 45 (18): 2457–2467. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/001036....
8.
Bhowmik P.C. 2003. Challenges and opportunities in implementing allelopathy for natural weed management. Crop Protection 22 (4): 661–671. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-....
9.
Caamal-Maldonado J.A., Jiménez-Osornio J.J., Torres-Barragán A., Anaya A.L. 2001. The use of allelopathic legume cover and mulch species for weed control in cropping systems. Agronomy Journal 93 (1): 27–36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj....
10.
Carlesi S., Bigongiali F., Antichi D., Ciaccia C., Tittarelli F., Canali S., Bàrberi P. 2020. Green manure and phosphorus fertilization affect weed community composition and crop/weed competition in organic maize. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 35 (5): 493–502. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S17421....
11.
Carolina G.P., Rui F.G., Patrícia V., Paula B.A., Manuel J.R., Nuria P. 2018. The consistency between phytotoxic effects and the dynamics of allelochemicals release from Eucalyptus globulus leaves used as bioherbicide green manure. Journal of Chemical Ecology 44: 658–670. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886....
12.
Cinkocki R., Lipková N., Javoreková S., Petrová J., Maková J., Medo J., Ducsay L. 2021. The impact of growth-promoting streptomycetes isolated from rhizosphere and bulk soil on oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) growth parameters. Sustainability 13 (10): 5704. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su1310....
13.
Dahiya A., Sharma R., Sindhu S., Sindhu S.S. 2019. Resource partitioning in the rhizosphere by inoculated Bacillus spp. towards growth stimulation of wheat and suppression of wild oat (Avena fatua L.) weed. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants 25: 1483–1495. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298....
14.
Dar A., Zahir Z.A., Asghar H.N., Ahmad R. 2020. Preliminary screening of rhizobacteria for biocontrol of little seed canary grass (Phalaris minor Retz.) and wild oat (Avena fatua L.) in wheat. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 66 (5): 368–376. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjm-20....
15.
DuPre M.E., Seipel T., Bourgault M., Boss D.L., Menalled F.D.2022. Predicted climate conditions and cover crop composition modify weed communities in semiarid agroecosystems. Weed Research 62 (1): 38–48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/wre.12....
16.
Falquet B., Gfeller A., Pourcelot M., Tschuy F., Wirth J. 2015. Weed suppression by common buckwheat: A review. Environmental Control in Biology 53 (1): 1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2525/ecb.53....
17.
Frabboni L., Tarantino A., Petruzzi F., Disciglio G. 2019. Bio-herbicidal effects of oregano and rosemary essential oils on chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) crop in organic farming system. Agronomy 9 (9): 475. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
18.
Herrera J.M., Rubio G., Häner L.L., Delgado J.A., Lucho-Constantino C.A., Islas-Valdez S., Pellet D. 2016. Emerging and established technologies to increase nitrogen use efficiency of cereals. Agronomy 6 (2): 25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
19.
Kocira A., Staniak M., Tomaszewska M., Kornas R., Cymerman J., Panasiewicz K., Lipińska H. 2020. Legume cover crops as one of the elements of strategic weed management and soil quality improvement. A Review. Agriculture 10 (9): 394. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agricu....
20.
Kosinski M.S., King J.R., Harker K.N., Turkington T.K., Spaner D. 2011. Barley and triticale underseeded with a kura clover living mulch: Effects on weed pressure, disease incidence, silage yield, and forage quality. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 91 (4): 667–687. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4141/cjps10....
21.
Kremer R.J., Souissi T. 2001. Cyanide production by rhizobacteria and potential for suppression of weed seedling growth. Current Microbiology 43: 182–186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284....
22.
Kruidhof H.M., Bastiaans L., Kropff M.J. 2008. Ecological weed management by cover cropping: Effects on weed growth in autumn and weed establishment in spring. Weed Research 48 (6): 492–502. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365....
23.
Lemessa F., Wakjira M. 2015. Cover crops as a means of ecological weed management in agroecosystems. Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology 18: 133–145. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12892....
24.
Li J., Kremer R.J. 2006. Growth response of weed and crop seedlings to deleterious rhizobacteria. Biological Control 39 (1): 58–65. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioc....
25.
Liu S., Ma Z., Zhang Y., Chen Z., Du X., Mu Y. 2022. The impact of different winter cover crops on weed suppression and corn yield under different tillage systems. Agronomy 12 (5): 999. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
26.
Moonen A.C., Bàrberi P. 2004. Size and composition of the weed seedbank after 7 years of different cover crop-maize management systems. Weed Research 44 (3): 163–177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365....
27.
Mustafa A., Naveed M., Saeed Q., Nadeem Ashraf M., Hussain A., Abbas T., Kamran M., Sun N., Xu M. 2019. Application potentials of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and fungi as an alternative to conventional weed control methods. In: “Sustainable Crop Production”. IntechOpen: London, UK.
28.
Mishchenko Y.G., Masik I.M. 2017. Control of soil weediness and sugar beets by after crop green manure and different tillages. Ukrainian Journal of Ecology 7 (4): 517–524.
29.
Phour M., Sindhu S.S. 2019. Bio-herbicidal effect of 5-aminolevulinic acid producing rhizobacteria in suppression of Lathyrus aphaca weed growth. BioControl 64: 221–232. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526....
30.
Płaza A., Niewiadomska A., Górski R., Rosa R. 2023. A combination of bacterial products and cover crops as an innovative method of weed control in organic spring barley. Journal of Plant Protection Research 63 (2): 196–207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24425/jppr.....
31.
Radhakrishnan R., Park J., Lee I.J., Abd Allah E.F., Hashem A. 2017. Bio-herbicide effect of salt marsh tolerant Enterobacter sp. i-3 on weed seed germination and seedling growth. Pakistan Journal of Botany 49 (5): 1959–1963.
32.
Ranaldo M., Carlesi S., Costanzo A., Barberi P. 2019. Functional diversity of cover crop mixtures enhances biomass yield and weed suppression in a Mediterranean agroecosystem. Weed Research 60 (1): 96–108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/wre.12....
33.
Restuccia A., Scavo A., Lombardo S., Pandino G., Fontanazza S., Anastasi U., Abbate C., Mauromicale G. 2020. Long-term effect of cover crops on species abundance and diversity of weed flora. Plants 9 (11): 1506. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants....
34.
Reed L., Glick B.R. 2023. The recent use of plant-growth-promoting bacteria to promote the growth of agricultural food crops. Agriculture 13 (5): 1089. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agricu....
35.
Saucke H., Ackermann K. 2006. Weed suppression in mixed cropped grain peas and false flax (Camelina sativa). Weed Research 46 (6): 453–461. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365....
36.
Schappert A., Schumacher M., Gerhards R. 2019. Weed control ability of single sown cover crops compared to species mixtures. Agronomy 9 (6): 294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agrono....
37.
Smith R.G., Warren N.D., Cordeau S. 2020. Are cover crop mixtures better at suppressing weeds than cover crop monocultures? Weed Science 68 (2): 186–194. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/wsc.20....
38.
Sindhu S.S., Khandelwal A., Phour M., Sehrawat A. 2018. Bioherbicidal potential of rhizosphere microorganisms for ecofriendly weeds management. p. 331–376. In: “Agriculturally Important Microbes for Sustainable Agriculture; Applications in Crop Production and Protection” (Meena V.S., Mishra P.K., Bisht J.K., Pattanayak A., eds.). Springer: Singapore. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-98....
39.
Seidel E.P., Caetano J.H.S., Karpinski A.S., Reis W.D. 2019. Residual dry matter, weeds and soil aggregates after winter cover crop. Journal of Experimental Agriculture International 32 (2): 1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9734/jeai/2....
40.
Seipel T., Ishaq S.L., Larson C., Menalled F.D. 2022. Weed communities in winter wheat: Responses to cropping systems under different climatic conditions. Sustainability 14 (11): 6880. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su1411....
41.
Tabaglio V., Marocco A., Schulz M. 2013. Allelopathic cover crop of rye for integrated weed control in sustainable agroecosystems. Italian Journal of Agronomy 8 (1): e5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.20....
42.
Teasdale J.R., Mohler C.L. 2000. The quantitative relationship between weed emergence and the physical properties of mulches. Weed Science 48 (3): 385–392. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1614/0043-1....
43.
Wells M.S., Reberg-Horton S.C., Mirsky S.B. 2016. Planting date impacts on soil water management, plant growth, and weeds in cover-crop-based no-till corn production. Agronomy Journal 108 (1): 162–170. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj....
44.
Weissmann R., Uggla C., Gerhardson B. 2003. Field performance of a weed-suppressing Serratia plymuthica strain applied with conventional spraying equipment. BioControl 48: 725–742. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026....
45.
Wiggins M., McClure M., Hayes R., Steckel L. 2015. Integrating cover crops and POST herbicides for glyphosate-resistant Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) control in corn. Weed Technology 29 (3): 412–418. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1614/WT-D-1....
46.
Yamane K., Kono M., Fukunaga T., Iwai K., Sekine R., Watanabe Y., Iijima M. 2014. Field evaluation of coffee grounds application for crop growth enhancement, weed control, and soil improvement. Plant Production Science 17 (1): 93–102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1626/pps.17....
| eISSN: | 1899-007X |
| ISSN: | 1427-4345 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
