THE INFLUENCE OF COVER CROP MIXTURES ON WEED SPREAD IN CONVENTIONAL AND ORGANIC FARMING

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted in 2023 at Alvydas Samaitis' farm (Joniškis district, Lithuania) under conventional farming conditions and at Mindaugas Kubilius' farm (Panevėžys district, Lithuania) under organic farming conditions. The aim of the research was to determine the influence of different cover crop mixtures on weed spread in conventional and organic farming. Experimental treatment: 1) without cover crop mixture, 2) undersown cover crop mixture TGS BIOM 1, 3) cover crop mixture TGS D STRUKT 1 sown after harvest, 4) cover crop mixture TGS GYVA 365 sown after harvest. In the cover crop mixtures dominated annual summer and winter weeds, while under the conditions of organic farming, the perennial weeds Cirsium arvense and Artemisia vulgaris were more common. In conventional agriculture, number of weeds was significantly from 2.6 to 3.4 times lower and dry matter biomass of weeds was significantly from 2.4 to 3.0 times lower in all cover crop mixtures, compared to the fields without cover crop mixture. Under the conditions of organic farming, the dry matter biomass of weeds in the undersown cover crop mixture was found to be significantly 2.3 times lower, compared to the fields without cover crop mixture.