Effects Of Mechanical Weed Control In Organic Soybean Cultivation On Yield And Weed Biomass In Luxembourg

Summary

Organic soybean cultivation in Luxembourg is still in its initial stage, with knowledge gaps mainly in mechanical weed control. Within the framework of the project LeguTec, five weed control methods in soybean cultivation are tested under real conditions on three organic farms distributed over Luxembourg in 2018 and 2019. The focus lies on treatments with a harrow, hoe, finger weeder, mixed cropping and combination. The field trials are conducted in four replicates including control plots. Different rating parameters are taken before and after each weed treatment as well as at flowering and at harvest to assess the efficiency of the used technique in relation to yield. First results of the two years show higher yields and less weed biomass at flowering in hoeing treatments than in harrowing treatments. Significant correlations can be derived from yield and weed biomass at flowering.