Analysis of relationships between farming practices, weed flora and crop production
Résumé
Quantitative data on the potential losses of crop yield due to weeds is limited. Approaches to
quantify weed damages considered only individual weed species, and have not included the
compounding of effects at the community level. Moreover they did not integrate the influence of
agricultural practices and environmental variables on the weed-crop relationship. Here we
analysed a big data sets to study relations between crop management, weed communities’
indicators and crop yield and then develop path analysis models to disentangle the confounding
effects of cropping system on weeds and crop production. Flora surveys (N= 651) were performed
from 2006 to 2013 on 150 fields in the Fénay study site (Dijon, eastern France). Farmers were
interviewed to know their cropping systems (N=564) and recorded their yield (N=564). The main
crops were winter wheat (195 fields, 227 flora surveys), winter barley (94, 110), oilseed rape (92,
103) spring barley (53, 63) and mustard (45, 56). Data were also collected on the 11 others crops
but on less fields (<25 fields, <27 flora surveys for each crop). Pearson correlations were
performed between quantitative variables (farming practices, weed flora indicators) and yields.