Aej. Saayman et Ha. Vandeventer, INFLUENCE OF WEED COMPETITION ON SUBSEQUENT GERMINATION AND SEED VIGOR OF ZEN MAYS, Seed science and technology, 25(1), 1997, pp. 59-65
Small scale farmers in Africa commonly employ the practice of using ma
ize (Zea mays L.) grains (F2 seed) produced in one season as seed for
the next season. Experiments on cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium L.) and
maize provided information on the influence of competition between th
e weed and the crop on seed germination and vigour of the produced mai
ze seeds. Maize was planted in 50 m rows, 2.1 m apart, with a plant po
pulation of 16000 plants.ha(-1). X. strumarium was planted at five den
sities between the maize. The maize seeds produced at different weed d
ensities were harvested at the end of the growing season and subjected
to germination and vigour tests. Both germination and vigour of maize
seeds decreased with an increase in weed density. This finding should
be taken into account when determining threshold values for economica
l weed control.