Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania

Radu, Mădălin; Bolohan, Ciprian; Mihalașcu, Costel; Măruțescu, Andrei; Newbert, Max John; Vasileiadis, Vasileios P.

doi:10.3390/su17136204

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania

by

Mădălin Radu

^1,2,

Ciprian Bolohan

^2,*

,

Costel Mihalașcu

¹,

Andrei Măruțescu

³,

Max John Newbert

³

and

Vasileios P. Vasileiadis

^3,*

¹

Moara Domnească Agricultural Research and Development Didactic Station, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, 011464 Bucharest, Romania

²

Soil Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, 011464 Bucharest, Romania

³

Syngenta Crop Protection AG, 4058 Basel, Switzerland

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2025, 17(13), 6204; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136204

Submission received: 2 June 2025 / Revised: 26 June 2025 / Accepted: 2 July 2025 / Published: 7 July 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management: Plant, Biodiversity and Ecosystem)

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Abstract

Conservation agriculture is increasingly recognized as a sustainable alternative to conventional farming in temperate regions due to its benefits in terms of reducing soil erosion, enhancing water retention, and mitigating climate change. Despite these benefits, these practices are not broadly adopted, partially due to perceived weed management challenges in conservation systems. This paper explores how a conservation system that uses cover crops and non-inversion tillage (chiselling) influences the weed flora abundance and evolution before cover crop termination and over a complete rotation cycle (sunflower–winter wheat–maize–sunflower) in southeastern Romania when compared to conventional tillage (ploughing). Overall, the conservation system significantly reduced weed density by 31%, preserving a higher diversity and evenness (H′ = 0.75, E = 0.46) by the end of the rotation cycle and an evenly distributed weed community compared to the conventional system, where the opportunistic species Veronica hederifolia exhibited dominance.

Keywords: cover crops; chisel plough; weed density; weed population frequency

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MDPI and ACS Style

Radu, M.; Bolohan, C.; Mihalașcu, C.; Măruțescu, A.; Newbert, M.J.; Vasileiadis, V.P. Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania. Sustainability 2025, 17, 6204. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136204

AMA Style

Radu M, Bolohan C, Mihalașcu C, Măruțescu A, Newbert MJ, Vasileiadis VP. Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania. Sustainability. 2025; 17(13):6204. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136204

Chicago/Turabian Style

Radu, Mădălin, Ciprian Bolohan, Costel Mihalașcu, Andrei Măruțescu, Max John Newbert, and Vasileios P. Vasileiadis. 2025. "Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania" Sustainability 17, no. 13: 6204. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136204

APA Style

Radu, M., Bolohan, C., Mihalașcu, C., Măruțescu, A., Newbert, M. J., & Vasileiadis, V. P. (2025). Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania. Sustainability, 17(13), 6204. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136204

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Effects of Non-Inversion Tillage and Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Density in Southeastern Romania

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