Effect of Soil Solarization on Weed Emergence

Abstract

In order to evaluate the effect of soil solarization over the reduction of the seed bank of annual weeds, a field experiment was carried out on clay soil conditions. The average maximum soil temperature was 44,79 °C at 5 cm depth, while it reached 44, 48 °C at 20 cm depth during 30 days in January. The average thermal gradient during the solarization between the solarized soil and the air was 14,8 °C. Solarization was effective to control annual weeds up to 180 days post-solarization. Weed aerial biomass in solarized soil was significantly lower than in the control without solarization.