Indexed in

License and use

Citations

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Share

Changes of the agronomic practices in rainfed winter cereal since the decade of 1970 in Aragón (Northeastern Spain): implications for the weed management

Publicated to:Itea-Informacion Tecnica Economica Agraria. - 2025-01-30 (), DOI: 10.12706/itea.2025.001

Authors: Cirujeda, Alicia; Pardo, Gabriel; Aibar, Joaquin

Affiliations

Abstract

Winter cereal in rainfed conditions occupies an important area in Spain and also in Arag & oacute;n and has experienced significant changes concerning management and social aspects. In this work the opinions of 38 technicians and farmers of 21 districts are described after filling in questionnaires about the main crops, type of tillage, herbicide use, main weed species, sowing periods, etc. in three periods: years 1970-86 (since the inclusion of Spain in the CEE and the start of the influence of the Common Agricultural Policies) (period 1), 2005-13 (period 2) and 2021-present (period 3). The results are coincident in most of the districts concerning the following aspects: more diverse crops have been seeded progressively; a reduction in tillage intensity has occurred and herbicides are applied more intensively, in many districts in both pre- and postemergence of the crops. Concerning the most worrisome weeds, the most outstanding is an increase in poaceae, especially of Lolium rigidum Gaud. in many areas showing herbicide-resistant populations at least in 7 districts. Overall, grazing with sheep has also diminished and there has been an increase of the cultivated area per farmer. The irregular rainfall as well as the high temperatures at the end of the cropping cycles will very probably force farmers to carry out new adaptations such as choosing adapted species (e.g. barley) and appropriate varieties to these conditions to capitalize the crops.

Keywords