Smothering potential of different crops for sustainable weed control in Pummelo Orchard

Larry V. Aceres*, Emmanuel T. Libuangan and Rhegyn R. dela Torre

University of Southeastern Philippines, Tagum-Mabini Campus,

Philippines Email: larry.aceres@usep.edu.ph 

Abstract

Weeds were considered the silent killer in the crop field and/or orchard due to its unobserved effect to crop production. Weeds harbor pests and diseases and also pollinators and natural enemies. Ecological farming makes use of the non-chemical method for weed control due to the ill-effects of continuous herbicide use which decreases diversity and promotes soil erosion. Hence, the use of smother or cover crops was evaluated as to their potential of preventing and/or reducing weed growth in pummelo orchard. This study was conducted at the Pummelo Orchard of the University of Southeastern Philippines, Mabini, Compostela Valley Province with the following smother crops treatment such as pintoi peanut (Arachis pintoi), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), squash (Cucurbita maxima) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design with 3 replications in 8 m x 15 m dimension per plot. Data were gathered using the 1 x 1 m quadrat per plot for weed populations at 45, 75 and 105 days after planting. The population of beneficial arthropods were monitored using various sampling techniques such as yellow pan trap, pitfall trap, and sweep net. Data were analyzed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and comparison of means was done following the DMRT analysis. Results revealed that the pintoi peanut, peanut and sweet potato were the best smother crops in suppressing weeds since they produced the lowest weed density and fresh weed weight across sampling dates. Moreover, pintoi peanut and sweet potato provided prolonged weed suppression in the pummelo orchard. Furthermore, higher population of beneficial arthropods were recorded particularly in reproductive stage of the various smother crops than in without smother crops. On the other hand, squash and bottle gourd gave the highest net income based on the partial budget analysis though not an effective smother crop. 

Keywords

Smother crops, Beneficial Arthropods, Pummelo Orchard, Weeds, Sustainable Weed Management..

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