Canola cultivar performance in weed-infested field plots confirms allelopathy ranking from in vitro testing

Abstract

Crop competition and allelopathy are two cultural control options for possible inclusion in cropping systems. This research aimed to identify superior allelopathic canola genotypes through a two-year field study. First year screening results of 312 diverse Brassica genotypes showed genotypes differed significantly in their ability to suppress weed infestations. Crop plant height was correlated with the competitive ability of several genotypes, while other genotypes showed good weed-suppressive ability despite being short. Thirty-six of the genotypes grown in the field had been previously assessed for their allelopathic ability to inhibit the growth of annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) seedlings using an in vitro technique. The highly allelopathic genotypes: Av-opal, Sardi603, Rivette and Atr-beacon performed well against annual ryegrass in the laboratory and also against other species, including Capsella bursa-pastoris, Sisymbrium orientale and Hordeum leporinum in the field. The weakly allelopathic Barossa and X-06-6-3725 genotypes performed poorly both in the laboratory studies and in the field. The following year, field testing of selected genotypes at two sowing dates further suggested that the most allelopathic genotypes in the laboratory bioassay were generally those that suppressed weed numbers and their biomass in the field. The late sowing time increased the natural weed pressure leading to a decrease in both canola grain yield and quality. Many of the highly allelopathic canola genotypes, which caused low weed populations in the field, had relatively low grain yield. This suggests that the allelopathic trait is independent of local adaptation and yields potential under weed-free conditions. Ideally, cultivars with both high allelopathy and high competitive ability would be most useful to help farmers maximise yield and control weeds. Selection for allelopathy in canola shows potential as a future non-chemical weed control option and requires further investigation.

Keywords:

• Brassica napus
• genotypes
• weeds
• interference
• competition
• allelopathy

Acknowledgements

We thank the Grains Research and Development Corporation of Australia for partly funding the National Brassica Germplasm Improvement Program (NBGIP) project. Various commercial canola breeding companies are thanked for providing seed of their cultivars present in the National Variety Testing (NVT) scheme. We thank David Roberts and Peter Deane for technical assistance.