Integrated dryland weed control in nature farming systems

Author: Hui-lian Xu ¹, Feifei Qin ^{1, 2}, Fahong Wang ^3*, Qicong Xu ¹, Shailendra K. Shah ¹ and Fengmin Li ⁴

Received 18 May 2009, accepted 7 October 2009.

Abstract

As practices of integrated weed control in nature farming systems, surface application of a bioactive organic fertilizer, pigtailed wheat straw mulch, and intercropped peanut as a smother crop were tested with soybean, Japanese pumpkin and tomato, respectively. A bioactive organic fertilizer using rice bran, oil mill sludge and fish meal as materials and a microbial inoculant (EM as its commercial name) as fermentation starter, was applied into the 3-cm surface soil layer, where the bio-fertilizer was aerobically re-fermented and seeds of weeds were damaged during germination by the fermenting process. Weed population decreased more than 50% by applying the bioactive organic fertilizer on soil surface. In the second experiment, residues of winter wheat were brailed on soil surface in pigtail style as mulch after the ears were harvested. This kind of residue mulching depressed weeds significantly, increased soil microbial quantity and activity, avoided powdery mildew and increased pumpkin fruit yield. In the third experiment, as a cover crop, peanut intercropped into tomato crop smothered weeds, decreased tomato leaf blight infection and increased tomato fruit yield more than 10% in addition to the peanut harvest. It is concluded that above mentioned three methods can be adopted in integrated weed management in organic or nature farming systems.