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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Agron.
Sec. Weed Management
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fagro.2024.1419228

Effect of Cereal Rye Cover Crop Termination Timings on Weed Control and Corn Yield under a Two-pass Herbicide Program

Provisionally accepted
AMAR S. GODAR AMAR S. GODAR *Jason Norsworthy Jason Norsworthy L T. Barber L T. Barber
  • University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cover crops, including cereal rye, are generally known to suppress weeds in various cropping systems; however, research on their effective use is lacking. This study investigated the effects of different cereal rye termination timings on weed control and corn performance in a two-pass herbicide program across five site-years (2021)(2022)(2023) in Arkansas, USA. The herbicide program consisted of one application at cereal rye (Secale cereale) termination (cereal rye environment) or at corn (Zea mays) planting (conventional system) and another at the V4 corn stage. Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) at V4 corn was better controlled in cereal rye environments regardless of its termination timing (>75%) than in the conventional corn system (<50%), and the control was generally excellent in both systems 4 weeks later, with subtly greater control in the cereal rye environments. In contrast, yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) control, in general, was slightly less in the cereal rye environments than in the conventional system. Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) and broadleaf signalgrass (Urochloa platyphylla) control was similar to that of Palmer amaranth, especially at the V4 corn stage, with clear benefits in its control with the later termination timings. Corn height was greater (by 8 to 10%) in cereal rye environments terminated at 1 or 2 weeks after corn planting compared to the conventional system or other cereal rye environments. Corn yield was similar between the conventional system and the cereal rye environments terminated before corn planting; however, the yield was 16% to 22% less with those terminated at or after corn planting. These findings indicate the constrained use of cereal rye in corn, with its termination time optimized for 2 weeks before corn planting. Further research could identify factors that mitigate the yield loss from delayed cereal rye termination and improve its use as a cover crop in corn.

    Keywords: Cereal rye, cover crop, integrated weed management, herbicide selection pressure, cover crop termination timings

    Received: 17 Apr 2024; Accepted: 18 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 GODAR, Norsworthy and Barber. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: AMAR S. GODAR, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.