Main authors: | Abdallah Alaoui |
Editor: | Jane Brandt |
Source documents: | Alaoui, A. (2018) Visual Soil Quality Assessment Manual v2: assessment of soil and plant quality for the season 2018. iSQAPER Report 49 pp |
Importance
The quality of the seedbed and the use and timing of herbicide sprays influence the level of weed infestation. Soil structural degradation reduces soil aeration and the rooting potential of the crop, allowing more vigorous weeds to establish and compete with the crop. A high weed population uses a lot of the soil moisture and nutrients otherwise available to the crop. In extreme cases, weeds can smother the crop.
Assessment
Visual assessment is the most common method and useful for small areas. The example given in Figure 19 show a cotton crop heavily infested with barnyard grass, melon and wild radish (Bayley and Brouwer, 2016). To assess the degree of weed infestation, we propose to delineate 1 m2 on soil surface and count the percentage of the degree of weed infestation using Figure 20.
Figure 19
Figure 20
References
Bayley, D., Brouwer, D. 2016. Managing Weeds: AgGuide – A Practical Handbook. Department of Primary Industries. 105 p.