Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
The inclusion of competitive crop cultivars in crop rotations is animportant integrated weed management (IWM) tool. However, competitiveness isoften not considered a priority for breeding or cultivar selection bygrowers. Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) is often considered apoor competitor with weeds, but it is not known whether competitivenessvaries among semileafless cultivars. The objectives of this study were todetermine if semileafless field pea cultivars vary in their ability tocompete and/or withstand competition, as well as to identify abovegroundtrait(s) that may be associated with increased competitive ability. Fieldexperiments were conducted in 2012 and 2013 at three locations in westernCanada. Fourteen semileafless field pea cultivars were included in the studyrepresenting four different market classes. Cultivars were grown either inthe presence or absence of model weeds (wheat and canola), and competitiveability of the cultivars was determined based on their ability to withstandcompetition (AWC) and their ability to compete (AC). Crop yield, weedbiomass and weed fecundity varied among sites but not years. Cultivarsexhibited inconsistent differences in competitive ability, although cv.Reward consistently exhibited the lowest AC and AWC. None of the traitsmeasured in this study correlated highly with competitive ability. However,the highest-yielding cultivars generally were those that had the highest AC,whereas cultivars that ranked highest for AWC were associated with lowerweed fecundity. Ranking the competitive ability of field pea cultivars couldbe an important IWM tool for growers and agronomists.
Associate Editor for this paper: John L. Lindquist, University of Nebraska.