PRODIVA-Crop diversification and weeds Work package 2 : Crop mixtures for weed suppression Annual report 2016

The aim of WP2 is to assess the weed suppressive ability of crop mixtures as a function of species and densities, using a functional approach. During 2016, field experiments and controlled experiments with mixtures of barley and pea were conducted in Sweden and Poland. The performance of crop mixtures was compared to the performance of pure crops with regard to their ability to suppress weeds. In the fields, natural weed populations were used while the controlled experiments employed Elytrigia repens or Sinapis alba as a model weed. The purpose was to quantify weed suppressive ability of the crops, the impact of weeds on crop yield, and to identify crop traits responsible for the effects on weeds and crop yield.