INTER-ROW STUBBLE SEEDING AND PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS TO IMPROVE FIELD PEA STANDABILITY AND PRODUCTION

Field pea (Pisum sativum) is an important economic and rotational crop in Alberta, Canada; however, standability problems are a major barrier to increasing seeded area in highly productive growing environments. Field experiments were conducted from 2015 to 2017 at three sites in the central and Peace regions of Alberta to determine if (i) pea standability and production can be improved using inter-row seeding into untilled standing wheat stubble; (ii) pea standability and production can be improved using chlormequat chloride (CCC), trinexapac-ethyl (TXP), or ethephon (ETH) plant growth regulators (PGRs); and (iii) PGR responses are cultivar-specific. Depending on the site–year, there were 16–17 inter-row seeding, PGR, and cultivar treatment combinations arranged in a randomized complete block design. Relative to the no-stubble control, inter-row seeding into 20- or 30-cm-tall, untilled wheat stubble significantly improved standability between 6% and 23% under conditions when lodging occurred. It also redu...