Quantifying the effect of crop spatial arrangement on weed suppression using functional-structural plant modelling

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Ecology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Crop competitiveness is key to suppressing weed growth.
• Modifying crop planting patterns is a strategy to enhance this competitiveness.
• Understanding spatial competition for light is crucial for crop-weed interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the impact of uniform, random, and row planting patterns on crop light competition with weeds.
• To assess how planting patterns influence weed suppression relative to crop/weed density and emergence timing.
• To utilize functional-structural plant modeling for simulating 3D crop-weed canopy interactions.

Main Methods:

• Functional-structural plant modeling approach.
• Simulation of 3D spatial configuration of crop-weed canopies.
• Modeling of intra- and interspecific competition for light.

Main Results:

• Differences in planting patterns had smaller effects than weed/crop density and emergence timing.
• Uniform planting patterns improved crop weed-suppression ability.
• Uniform planting was 8% and 15% more competitive than row and random patterns, respectively, with simultaneous emergence.

Conclusions:

• Uniform planting patterns offer a modest advantage in weed suppression.
• Planting patterns are less influential than density and emergence timing in most scenarios.
• Modeling provides a valuable tool for designing crop management strategies to enhance weed competitiveness.