Oregano green manure for weed suppression in sustainable cotton and corn fields

A 2 year field experiment was conducted in northern Greece to study the biomass effects of four oregano (Origanum vulgare) biotypes, used as incorporated green manure, on the emergence and growth of barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus‐galli), bristly foxtail (Setaria verticillata), common purslane (Portulaca oleracea), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and corn (Zea mays). The oregano biotypes were selected on the basis of their high phenolic content. The phytotoxic potential of the oregano biotype extracts also was determined in the laboratory by using a perlite‐based bioassay with cotton, corn, and barnyard grass. The bioassays indicated that the germination, root elongation, and fresh weight of cotton, corn, and barnyard grass were reduced by the oregano biotype extracts. In the field, the emergence of common purslane, barnyard grass, and bristly foxtail was reduced by 0–55%, 38–52%, and 43–86%, respectively, in the oregano green manure treatments, as compared with the oregano green manure‐free treatments (the controls). At harvest, the cotton lint and corn grain yields in the oregano green manure treatments were 24–88% and 5–16%, respectively, greater than those in the corresponding green manure‐free, weedy treatments. These results indicated that when the biomass of the oregano biotypes with a high phenolic content were incorporated into the soil as green manure, they could be used to suppress barnyard grass, bristly foxtail, and common purslane in cotton and corn and consequently to minimize herbicide usage.     

THE 4C APPROACH AS A WAY TO UNDERSTAND SPECIES INTERACTIONS DETERMINING INTERCROPPING PRODUCTIVITY

● The 4C approach considers intercropping performances as the result of joint 4C effects. ● Partial land equivalent ratios indicate which effect(s) are the major one(s). ● A major effect of complementarity is related to a better capture of abiotic resources. Modern agriculture needs to develop transition pathways toward agroecological, resilient and sustainable farming systems. One key pathway for such agroecological intensification is the diversification of cropping systems using intercropping and notably cereal-grain legume mixtures. Such mixtures or intercrops have the potential to increase and stabilize yields and improve cereal grain protein concentration in comparison to sole crops. Species mixtures are complex and the 4C approach is both a pedagogical and scientific way to represent the combination of four joint effects of Competition, Complementarity, Cooperation, and Compensation as processes or effects occurring simultaneously and dynamically between species over the whole cropping cycle. Competition is when plants have fairly similar requirements for abiotic resources in space and time, the result of all processes that occur when one species has a greater ability to use limiting resources (e.g., nutrients, water, space, light) than others. Complementarity is when plants grown together have different requirements for abiotic resources in space, time or form. Cooperation is when the modification of the environment by one species is beneficial to the other(s). Compensation is when the failure of one species is compensated by the other(s) because they differ in their sensitivity to abiotic stress. The 4C approach allows to assess the performance of arable intercropping versus classical sole cropping through understanding the use of abiotic resources.