Camelina as a Rotation Crop for Weed Control in Organic Farming in a Semiarid Mediterranean Climate

Crop rotation in winter cereals in semiarid Mediterranean climates is highly desirable to prevent weed infestations, but the climatic conditions make it difficult to implement alternative crops to winter cereals. Camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) is an interesting option, as it is able to produ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAgriculture (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 10; p. 156
Main Authors Royo-Esnal, Aritz, Valencia-Gredilla, Francisco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2018
Subjects
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Alternative crops
Barley
Camelina
Cereals
Climate
Climate change
Climatic conditions
Cold tolerance
Control methods
Crop rotation
Crop yield
Crops
Drought
Loam soils
oilseed crop
Organic farming
Precipitation
sowing date
sowing rate
Sustainable agriculture
Variance analysis
Weed control
Weeds
Winter
winter weeds
yield
United States > US
Spain
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Summary:Crop rotation in winter cereals in semiarid Mediterranean climates is highly desirable to prevent weed infestations, but the climatic conditions make it difficult to implement alternative crops to winter cereals. Camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) is an interesting option, as it is able to produce profitable yields thanks to its tolerance to cold and drought. In this work, three autumn–winter sowing dates (SD1, October; SD2, December; SD3, January) and two sowing rates (R1, 8 kg ha–1; R2, 11 kg ha–1) were chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of these cultural methods to control weeds over three seasons, and to determine effects on camelina seed yield. Results showed that a significant reduction of weed coverage was obtained by delaying the sowing date. Sowing rates did not show differences in weed coverage. In contrast, no apparent yield penalty was observed among sowing dates and rates. These results show that the introduction of camelina as a rotational crop in semiarid Mediterranean climates is a feasible option for helping to suppress winter weeds, as well as to provide productive seed yield in these climatic conditions.
ISSN:2077-0472
2077-0472
DOI:10.3390/agriculture8100156