Consociation of flax with forage leguminous

A strategy for agroecological weed management

Abstract

To evaluate the suppressive capacity on a spontaneous community of the flax system in intercropping with different forage leguminous, in different spatial arrangements, two years of field trials were carried out in La Plata, Argentina. The treatments were: monoculture of flax with and without the use of herbicide or in intercropping with red clover, white clover or lotus sown in the furrow or broadcast. Flax yield, total crop residue biomass and its components at sowing time, total soil cover, weed cover and relative weed yield were evaluated. In addition, in the second year of the trial, the residue was evaluated 3 months after the harvest. In both years, the monoculture with herbicide yielded more at the expense of using said agrochemical, which implies a greater demand for external inputs and environmental risk. The intercropping had acceptable yields, not differing from each other. The intercrops had greater capacity to suppress when the leguminous was sown broadcast than in the furrow. In addition, they allow to achieve a residue of better quantity and quality, contributing to the conservation of soil properties and diversity. The intercropping with red clover was the one that had the highest suppressive capacity in the medium term. The intercropping of flax with forage leguminous can be considered a strategy for agroecological weed management in the long term. These asociations could be adapted as a productive alternative in the Argentine pampas region, improving functional diversity and sustainability, with less use of external inputs.