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- Author or Editor: Albert Ayeni x
- HortTechnology x
Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus var. sativus) is a type of sedge that is quickly becoming popular as a superfood. As demand for tigernut continues to increase, more information is needed to develop weed management strategies for the crop to maximize tuber yield and quality. However, no herbicide is currently labeled for use with tigernut. Experimental trials were conducted in 2017 and 2018 to assess crop safety and control of economically important weeds with preemergence herbicides for transplanted ‘NG3’ and ‘OG’ tigernut. Oxyfluorfen applied alone or mixed with pendimethalin provided excellent control (>85%) of smooth pigweed (Amaranthus hybridus), carpetweed (Mollugo verticillata), and large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis), and it did not cause any tigernut injury, stunting, or yield reduction compared with the weed-free control. However, none of the treatments controlled hairy galinsoga (Galinsoga quadriradiata) satisfactorily 2 months after herbicide application. Bensulide alone or associated with oxyfluorfen caused 14% to 25% stunting of tigernut. Bensulide alone only provided short-term control of broadleaf weeds. Increased weed competition and tigernut phytotoxicity associated with bensulide resulted in a 39% reduction in tuber yield compared with oxyfluorfen alone. Finally, S-metolachlor caused up to 78% stunting and a 68% reduction in vegetative tigernut biomass (on average) compared with the weed-free control. Tuber yield was reduced 55% to 97% after S-metolachlor was applied at transplanting. Oxyfluorfen would provide effective weed control up to 8 weeks after treatment in fields where hairy galinsoga is not a weed of concern and fulfill the requirement of a weed-free period without affecting tuber yield of quality.
Peach (Prunus persica) trees were established and grown from 1996 to 1999 at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Bridgeton, N.J., to compare performance under four methods of orchard floor preparation: flat no-till, flat cultivated, mound unmulched, and mound mulched orchard floors. The experimental site was flat and the soil was a well-drained Aura gravelly sandy loam (61% sand, 31% silt, 8% clay) with a pH of 6.5, cation exchange capacity 5.7, and organic matter content of 2.0%. Soil moisture holding and gas exchange capacity determine the efficacy of mounding in peach orchards. Under these conditions, the method of orchard floor preparation had no effect on peach tree trunk cross sectional area (TCSA), fruit number per tree, fruit size, and yield. Thus, without irrigation, there was no advantage to the early performance of peach trees associated with orchard floor mounding on Aura gravelly sandy loam when situated on a flat terrain.