6533b829fe1ef96bd128964e

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Analyse des effets direct et indirect des pratiques agricoles sur les adventices et la production de blé tendre d’hiver

subject

description

Analysis of direct and indirect effects of farming practices on weeds and winter wheat yield. Farmers implement farming practices to maximize production by limiting biotic (e.g. weeds) and abiotic (e.g. nutrient) growth factors. Our study aimed to quantify direct and indirect (through a change of weed pressure) effects of farming practices on yield. We analysed the relationships between farming practices, weeds and yield of 152 wheat fields located in the study site of Fénay (UMR Agroécologie, Dijon) using partial least square path modelling (PLS-PM). Our results showed that farming practices had a positive direct effect on crop productivity (β = 0.32). Farming practices decreased weed pressure (β = -0.19) and had a sufficiently negative effect on weeds to counteract the negative impact of weeds on yield (β = -0.12). Thus, the indirect effect of farming practices on productivity through a change of weed pressure was positive and accounted for 7% of the total (direct + indirect) effect of farming practices on productivity. This key result confirms that effective weed management can sustain crop production.