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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Agricultural Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #353421
Title: Dryland pea production and water use in responses to tillage, crop rotation, and weed management practice

Author
item LENSSEN, ANDREW - Iowa State University
item Sainju, Upendra
item Jabro, Jalal - Jay
item Allen, Brett
item Stevens, William - Bart

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/8/2018
Publication Date: 6/21/2018
Citation: See Log #350966 for correct journal entry. This entry is for Abstract #111516 oral presentation at ASA-CSSA meeting in Baltimore, MD and SSSA meeting in San Diego, CA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.03.0182

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Pea has been used to replace fallow and sustain dryland crop yields in arid and semiarid regions, but information to optimize its management is required. We evaluated pea growth, yield, and water use in response to tillage, crop rotation, and weed management practice from 2005 to 2010 in the northern Great Plains, USA. Tillage systems were no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) and crop rotations were spring wheat-pea (W-P), spring wheat-forage barley-pea (W-B-P), and spring wheat-forage barley-corn-pea (W-B-C-P). Weed managements were traditional (conventional seeding rates, early planting, broadcast N fertilization, and reduced stubble height) and improved (variable seeding rates, delayed planting, banded N fertilization, and increased stubble height) practices. Pea plant stand, height, pod number, grain and biomass yields, and water-use efficiency (WUE) were 4 to 23% greater with the improved than the traditional weed management practice, but seed number pod-1 was 5% greater with the traditional practice. Plant height, pod number, biomass and grain yields, preplant and postharvest soil water contents, and WUE were 2 to 51% greater with W-B-P and W-B-C-P than W-P. Pea yield and WUE increased with extended crop rotation with nonlegumes and the improved weed management due to enhanced plant growth and seed characteristics as a result of greater soil water availability, seeding rate, and wheat stubble height. Dryland pea yield and water use can be enhanced by using extended diversified crop rotations and by increasing seeding rate and wheat stubble height.