Document Type : Research Article
Authors
1
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Plant Production, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
2
Department of Horticulture and Agronomy, Golestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Gorgan, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
Golestan Province is one of the main areas of faba bean production in Iran. Expanding faba bean cultivation in rotation with wheat, rapeseed, and other cold-tolerant plants, due to the valuable characteristics of this plant, can improve the sustainability of cropping systems and bring other important benefits. Weeds are considered a major problem in faba bean production and cause significant losses in grain and green pod yields. Cultivation of cover crops along with modification of agricultural practices, especially planting arrangements, can be a suitable solution for controlling weeds.
Material and Method
In order to investigate the effect of cover crop and row spacing on some soil properties, yield, and yield components of faba bean, a field experiment was conducted as a factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications in two crop years 2021-22 and 2022-23 at the research farm of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The first factor of the experiment included the use of cover crops at the levels of 1) rye, 2) parsley, 3) berseem clover, 4) hairy vetch, 5) no cover crop with the use of haloxyfop R-methyl ester + bentazone herbicides, 6) no cover crop in conditions of weeding of weeds, and 7) no cover crop in conditions of no weeding of weeds. The second factor was the distance between faba bean rows at three levels (37.5, 50, and 62.5 cm). Cover crops were planted simultaneously with faba beans and rolled 100 days later. In the second year of the experiment and at the end of the faba bean growth period, soil sampling was performed to determine the soil organic matter content and microbial respiration.
Result and Discussion
Before rolling, the highest and lowest leaf area (and dry weight) among the different cover crops were observed in rye and parsley. In the study of the dry weight of weeds 52 days after rolling the cover crops, it was indicated that the residues of rye and parsley had better potential for controlling weeds in both crop years than the residues of hairy vetch and berseem clover. The lowest number of pods per plant was observed at a row spacing of 37.5. Among the treatments studied, the highest number of pods per plant was observed in the no-cover crop treatment under weeding conditions and the rye and parsley cover crop. The lowest number of pods per faba bean plant was also observed in the no-cover crop treatment under no-weeding conditions and in the hairy vetch cover crop treatment. The experimental row spacing and cover crops did not affect the number of seeds per faba bean pod. With increasing row spacing, the weight of one hundred faba beans increased. The highest weight of faba bean pods was observed in the control treatments without cover crop under weeding conditions and with parsley cover crop planting, respectively, with 121.61 and 120.47 g. The highest biological yield was observed in the parsley cover crop (and residue) treatment at 9313 kg/ha, which was not far from the control treatments without cover crop in weeding conditions (9279 kg/ha) and rye cover crop (8364 kg/ha). The highest grain yield was observed in the row spacing of 37.5 cm and the lowest in the row spacing of 62.5 cm. The lowest grain yield after the cover crop treatment in the no-weeding condition was observed in the hairy vetch treatment. The highest organic carbon and soil microbial respiration was observed in the cover crop treatment in the no-weeding condition and the lowest in the cover crop treatments in the weeding condition. Among the treatments of undercover crops, the highest amount of organic carbon and soil microbial respiration was observed in the hairy vetch treatment and the lowest in rye.
Conclusion
In general, the results of this study showed that the use of different cover crops can have different effects on weed populations, soil properties, and crop yield. Based on the results of this study, to achieve the desired yield of faba bean-Mehta variety, it is recommended to plant parsley at a row spacing of 37.5 cm.
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