The effect of weed control methods on weed infestation of two durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) linesWpływ sposobów pielęgnacji na zachwaszczenie dwóch linii pszenicy twardej (Triticum durum Desf.)

Summary A field experiment was conducted during the period 2003–2005. The object of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of different weed control methods in wheat crops of two durum wheat lines (LGR 1359/8 and LGR 899/17A) and the common wheat cultivar Helia. Six weed control methods were taken into consideration: mechanical, mechanical‐chemical and chemical weed control, with the application of full and reduced doses of the herbicide Chwastox Trio 540 SL (mecoprop + MCPA + dicamba) at two dates, with an unweeded control treatment. Weed infestation was determined by the dry‐weight‐rank method about one week before plant harvest. The number and species composition of weeds as well as air‐dry weight of their aerial parts were determined. The obtained results were subjected to the analysis of variance and the significance of differences was calculated by the Tukey’s test. The application of the dose of the herbicide Chwastox Trio 540 SL reduced by 50% decreased weed infestation, expressed by the number and air‐dry weight of weeds, equally effectively as the full recommended dose. The results of the experiment showed a lower effectiveness of harrowing in weed management as compared to chemical weed control. The botanical composition of the dominant weed flora in the crops of the investigated durum wheat lines and common wheat was very similar.