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27 January 2025 Reduced canopy cover and development compromises weed suppression by buckwheat in cover crop mixtures
Maya Worthing, Aaron Mills, Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill
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Abstract

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) is a common cover crop typically grown for its rapid establishment and superior weed suppression. One challenge of incorporating buckwheat into crop rotations, however, is its short generation time, which requires in-season management to prevent viable seed production and volunteers in subsequent crops. Mixing buckwheat at reduced seeding rates with other cover crop species is one way for producers to reduce volunteer potential; however, this may compromise weed suppression. To investigate mechanisms behind buckwheat weed suppression and how using buckwheat in mixtures can affect suppression, we collected a series of morphological measurements in buckwheat monocultures and in three, two-way and four, three-way cover crop species mixtures and modeled their response over the growing season. We found that while buckwheat height and relative growth rate were unaffected with increasing species richness, there was a significant reduction in maximum leaf area index (3.75 vs. 2.85 vs. 2.82 cm2 cm−2) in mixture. Buckwheat monocultures provided superior season-long weed suppression compared to mixtures (85% vs. 53% vs. 50%). Principal component analysis showed that increased height and leaf area index values were associated with greater weed suppression. The link between reduced leaf area index and weed suppression in mixtures compared to buckwheat monocultures suggests that the rapid leaf development and canopy cover associated with buckwheat is a key mechanism behind weed suppression. In practice, producers should expect a dilution effect and weed suppression to be compromised when the buckwheat seeding rate is reduced in mixtures.

Maya Worthing, Aaron Mills, and Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill "Reduced canopy cover and development compromises weed suppression by buckwheat in cover crop mixtures," Canadian Journal of Plant Science 105(1), 1-5, (27 January 2025). https://doi.org/10.1139/cjps-2024-0117
Received: 1 July 2024; Accepted: 29 October 2024; Published: 27 January 2025
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KEYWORDS
Cover crop
dilution effect
seeding rate
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