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New research funded by GRDC has revealed that manipulating crop row orientation can lead to increased crop yields and weed suppression in the winter cropping region of Western Australia.

Heavy reliance on herbicides for weed control has led to widespread resistance throughout Australia. With the discovery of new herbicides being a rare event there must be ongoing research to discover new methods of weed control that don’t require herbicide use.

Dr Catherine Borger, a Weed Researcher from the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA), investigated the impact of manipulating crop row orientation on crop yield and weed growth. Crop row orientation was manipulated to maximise sunlight being intercepted by crops, consequently shading out weeds and suppressing their growth.

In both cereal and broadleaf crops yield and weed growth was observed comparing the current practice of north-south sowing against east-west sowing.

“In wheat and barley we observed a reduction in weed biomass of 37% and 51% respectively and an increase in yield of 24% and 26% respectively for crops sown east-west. However we did not observe a significant effect on crop yield or weed growth in canola, lupins or field peas” Dr Borger said.

Dr Borger believes east-west sowing provides growers with another tool to minimise herbicide use, suppress weed growth and increase cereal yields, with no set up costs involved.

“The decision to adopt east-west sowing will be paddock dependent and some downsides have been noted, such as driving into the sun at harvest  However, I think the potential to increase crop yield and suppress weeds will outweigh these disadvantages, for some growers” she said.

Further investigation into crop row orientation and its impact on crop yield and weed growth will be conducted in a GRDC funded project between DAFWA and the WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative (WAHRI) commencing in July 2010.

Director of WAHRI, Stephen Powles believes the concept of east-west sowing can easily be adopted by farmers and used as another tool to suppress weed growth whilst increasing yield.

“This is great work done by DAFWA and the results look promising. I have decided to use east-west sowing on my farm this year” Prof Powles said.

Professor Powles said this would provide farmers with another non-herbicidal tool which can be used in conjunction with a suite of other Integrated Weed Management (IWM) tools to help manage herbicide resistance.

A full copy of this research paper can be accessed by following the link below:
https://www2.allenpress.com/pdf/WEES_58.2_174-178.pdf .

Media references

Winthrop Professor Stephen Powles (Director, WAHRI), Tel +61 8 6488 7833 or +61 418 927 181
Ms Catherine Borger (Weed Researcher, DAFWA), Tel +61 8 9081 3105
Ms Neree Martinez, (Extension Agronomist, WAHRI), Tel +61 8 6488 7872 [email protected]