Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 9
Number 12 December, 1968 Article 5
1-1-1968
Stubble burning helps control Wimmera rye grass Stubble burning helps control Wimmera rye grass
M G. Mason W. J. Toms J. W. Gartrell
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Mason, M G.; Toms, W. J.; and Gartrell, J. W. (1968) "Stubble burning helps control Wimmera rye grass,"
Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 9: No. 12, Article 5.
Available at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol9/iss12/5
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STUBBLE BURNING HELPS CONTROL WIMMERA RYE GRASS
By M. G. MASON, W. J. TOMS and J. W. GARTRELL
In a trial at Wongan Hills Research Station, burning of wheat stubbie in a continuous cropping system, helped to control Wimmera Rye Grass in the crop and resulted in yields up to 2 5 bushels an acre higher than where the stubble was ploughed- in.
W I M M E R A RYE GRASS is the most widely used annual pasture grass in the agricultural areas of Western Australia. It has proved valuable for sheep feed where legume pastures are not grown. However, it has often proved a serious weed in cereal crops, causing large yield reductions.
Because of successive germinations Wimmera rye grass is often difficult to control by cultivation alone. Although it grows slowly in autumn, this grass is capable of vigorous spring growth and seeds prolincally. It can therefore build up to serious levels under a single crop.
It is very responsive to nitrogen fertilisers and can be particularly harmful in crops on fertile soils.
In 1962 an experiment was started at Wongan Hills Research Station to com- pare burning and ploughing-in of wheat stubbles. When stubble is ploughed-in it is broken down by soil micro-organisms.
These micro-organisms need a nitrogen supply to carry out this rotting process and since the stubble usually contains a low percentage of nitrogen, they use soil nitrogen, making it temporarily unavail- able to the wheat crop growing on ploughed-in stubble. The aim of this experiment was therefore to show how much more fertiliser nitrogen was required when stubble was ploughed-in rather than burnt, and how this requirement altered as more successive crops were taken.
Results
The average yields obtained for the burnt and unburnt treatments in each of the years 1962 to 1966 are shown in the diagram. (The area had been sown to a bulk wheat crop in 1961.)
In the first three years of the experiment there was a response to slightly higher rates of nitrogen on the unburnt stubble plots than on the burnt plots, but except for 1962 the yields never reached those where the stubble was burnt. It became obvious that these differences in yield were largely due to differences in numbers of Wimmera rye grass plants in the crops rather than any direct effects due to ploughing-in the straw. Despite excellent weed control by cultivation on all plots at planting, and despite delays in planting to allow a number of weed germinations, late germinations of Wimmera rye grass on the unburnt plots gave such a dense stand of weeds that wheat growth was greatly suppressed.
This effect of Wimmera rye grass became greater with each successive crop.
Wimmera rye grass also gradually built up in the plots where the stubble was burnt, but yields on the burnt plots were much higher than where the stubble was ploughed in and the rye grass infestation was worse.
On the unburnt stubble plots in 1965, wheat yields were actually reduced by nitrogen application, which stimulated the growth of the abundant rye grass more than the growth of the wheat.
The diagram shows the steady decline in yields where the stubble was not burnt, despite improvements in seasonal condi- tions.
The authors: M . G. M a s o n , B.Sc. (Agric.) and J. W . G a r t r e l l , B.Sc. ( A g r i c ) , Research O f f i c e r s , P l a n t Research D i v i s i o n ; W . J . Toms, M.Sc. ( A g r i c ) , A g r o n o m y and Experiment O f f i c e r , W h e a t a n d Sheep Division.
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Average
Yield 2 0 (Bus.fac.)
1962 1963 1964 1965 1966
The effects cf stubble treatment and Wimmera rye grass en wheat yields—Wongan Hills Research Station
Therefore, where Wimmera rye grass is likely to be a serious weed where successive crops are being grown, the stubble of each crop should be burned rather than ploughed-in unless the area has a serious erosion problem.
This effect of stubble burning on the control of Wimmera rye grass is probably due mainly to the destruction of seed dur- ing the fire and partly due to the better conditions for obtaining a weed kill with
cultivation after burning the stubble. If the stubble is not burnt, it is more diffi- cult to obtain a good seed bed and weed control.
Acknowledgments
Thanks are due to the staff of Wongan Hills Research Station and technical staff of the Plant Research Division, who helped in planting and topdressing nitrogen treatment on this trial.
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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 9 No 12 1968
