Physical destruction of the sprouting ability of Elytrigia repens rhizome buds

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Summary

Traditional strategies for controlling Elytrigia repens infestations in organic cropping in Scandinavia are based on repeated post-harvest cultivation. However, post-harvest tillage is undesirable due to the need for retaining nutrients in the cropping systems. There is a need to look
for solutions where E. repens can be controlled over a short duration to allow replanting of the soil.
A Danish project is investigating new technologies that can meet such requirements. One aspect is to look for methods that physically can destruct the sprouting ability of E. repens rhizome buds. We investigated the effect of heating using hot water and mechanical crushing by pressure on the
sprouting ability of exposed rhizome buds. The effect of temperatures < 70oC on the sprouting ability was inversely related to exposure time while 70oC or more gave a complete bud kill irrespective of heat duration. A sigmoid function described the relationship between sprouting ability and increasing pressure with a complete bud kill attained at 10 Newton per mm rhizome length. Neither rhizome ecotype or rhizome length influenced the relationship when pressures
produced a bud kill of agronomic interest (>70% control). According to energy calculations made, crushing rhizome buds appears far more promising than thermal destruction.

Available Versions of this Item

• Physical destruction of the sprouting ability of Elytrigia repens rhizome buds. (deposited 15 Oct 2010 13:24)
  • Physical destruction of the sprouting ability of Elytrigia repens rhizome buds. (deposited 26 Mar 2012 07:14) [Currently Displayed]