# name
Wheat mixtures as an effective option for weed management in organic farming

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
In organic cereal cropping systems, crop diversification has emerged as an environmentally friendly strategy for weed management. However, the role of crop mixtures in weed regulation, particularly in Mediterranean conditions, has been largely overlooked.This study evaluates the effects of wheat mixtures on weed suppression and weed species diversity. Over two years, we compared the weed suppression abilities of three wheat monocultures —Florence-Aurora (FA), Forment (FO), and Montcada (MO)— with two wheat mixtures: Florence-Aurora with Forment (FAFO) and Florence-Aurora with Montcada (FAMO) in five commercial fields. We analysed weed cover, weed biomass, and weed species community composition and richness. Additionally, we analysed some agronomic and functional wheat traits —including establishment, cover, height, biomass, and final tiller number— and correlated with final weed biomass to better understand the crops' ability to suppress weeds.Results indicated that wheat establishment, cover, and height were strongly negatively correlated with weed biomass. Wheat crops differed in both trait values and weed suppression abilities. Crop treatments that exhibited greater establishment, height and wheat cover, FAFO mixture and FO sole crop, significantly decreased weed cover and biomass. Nevertheless, FAMO did not outperform monocultures probably due to trait redundancy between the combined plants. Weed species composition was similar across treatments, although FO significantly reduced weed species richness.In conclusion, this study supports the use of wheat mixtures as an effective weed management strategy that also preserves weed species diversity. It further emphasizes the importance of including wheat plants with strong functional traits to maximize the mixture weed suppression performance.

# metadata.dc.rights[].value
cc-by (c) Tous Fandos, Alba et al., 2025

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Wheat mixtures as an effective option for weed management in organic farming