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Abstract

Impact of Soil Water Stress at Seed Development Stage on Phenology, Fecundity and Seed Dormancy of Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana †

1
School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, Australia
2
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Leslie Research Facility, Toowoomba 4350, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Presented at the third International Tropical Agriculture Conference (TROPAG 2019), Brisbane, Australia, 11–13 November 2019.
Proceedings 2019, 36(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019036001
Published: 24 December 2019
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The Third International Tropical Agriculture Conference (TROPAG 2019))

Abstract

Wild oat (Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana (Durieu) Nyman) is considered the most difficult-to-control winter weed in the northern grain region (NGR) of Australia particularly following the adoption of no-till conservation agriculture and the enhanced reliance on herbicides for weed control. A diversity of survival mechanisms is responsible for its persistence in no-till conservation cropping. Among them long-term, variable seed dormancy is the most important. A number of environmental stresses (for example drought) are known to affect the seed dormancy status. We hypothesized that the increasing frequency of hot and dry period in late winter/early spring season in the NGR might help to mature and shed less dormant wild oat seeds before the wheat crop is harvested. This early shedding of highly germinable seed better aids persistence in no-till conservation cropping systems. Our research showed that soil water stress applied at seed development stage resulted in lower number (16–22% less) of early maturing (5–20 days earlier) less dormant (28% less) seeds compared with control plants. This observation was made for a number of biotypes either coming from within one location or between locations within the NGR. Thus, the frequent hot and dry period at the time of seed development in the NGR is responsible for production of less dormant Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana seeds where no-till conservation cropping is helping to retain these seeds on the top soil. Under favourable germination conditions in the following season these less dormant seeds will immediately be available to re-infest the autumn/winter-sown wheat crop.
Keywords: wild oat; soil water stress; seed dormancy; no-till conservation agriculture; winter crop wild oat; soil water stress; seed dormancy; no-till conservation agriculture; winter crop

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Ali, M.; Widderick, M.; Williams, A.; Adkins, S. Impact of Soil Water Stress at Seed Development Stage on Phenology, Fecundity and Seed Dormancy of Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana. Proceedings 2019, 36, 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019036001

AMA Style

Ali M, Widderick M, Williams A, Adkins S. Impact of Soil Water Stress at Seed Development Stage on Phenology, Fecundity and Seed Dormancy of Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana. Proceedings. 2019; 36(1):1. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019036001

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ali, Mohammad, Michael Widderick, Alwyn Williams, and Steve Adkins. 2019. "Impact of Soil Water Stress at Seed Development Stage on Phenology, Fecundity and Seed Dormancy of Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana" Proceedings 36, no. 1: 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019036001

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