Wild Oat (Avena fatua) Competition with Spring Wheat: Effects of Nitrogen Fertilization

Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen fertilization on competition between wild oat (Avena fatuaL. # AVEFA) and spring wheat (Triticum aestivum‘Anza’). Nitrogen fertilizer treatments were applied over several wild oat-wheat density combinations. Wheat grain yield in wild oat-infested plots generally declined with fertilization while the density of wild oat panicles increased. Apparently, in competition with wheat, wild oat was better able to utilize the added nitrogen and thus gained a competitive advantage over the wheat. The increased competitiveness of wild oat resulted in reduced crop yields. Under the conditions of these experiments, nitrogen fertilization resulted in positive wheat yield response only when the wild oat plant density was below 1.6 percent of the total plant density.