Weed Harrowing—the Influence of Driving Speed and Driving Direction on Degree of Soil Covering and the Growth of Weed and Crop Plants

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Abstract
The effect of weed harrowing direction and driving speed (5, 9 and 13 km/hour) was studied in field experiments in Sweden for three years. Weed harrowing was performed when the test crop (Avena sativa) had developed 3–4 leaves. Effects were studied on both weeds and crop. Special attention was given to the degree of soil cover on the oat plants as a measurement of the intensity of the weed harrowing. Harrowing across the plant rows gave a higher degree of soil covering than weed harrowing along the rows. Increased driving speed caused more soil to cover the oat plants. Grain yield was significantly affected at higher driving speed in two of the three years. Driving direction did not significantly influence grain yield. The reduction of both the number and weight of the weeds was found to be dependent on driving speed, and most of the weed reduction was obtained at 5 km/hour. Harrowing direction did not significantly affect the weeds. The degree to which the crop was covered with soil does not seem to be a good quantitative parameter for measuring the intensity of the weed-harrowing when comparing different driving directions.

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