Monday, November 5, 2007
52-8

Management of Zoysia japonica and Imperata cylindrica by Mowing of Levee Vegetation.

Akihide Fushimi, Ichiro Otani, Masahiro Kamei, Rintaro Okuno, and Jun Kubota. National Agricultural Research Center for Western Region, 6-12-1 Nishi-Fukatsucho, Fukuyama, 721-8514, Japan

Levee vegetation on paths between rice fields in Japan is generally maintained through mowing. In several levees located in mountainous areas, mowing has been discontinued recently due to labor shortages. Consequently, we introduced Zoysia japonica and Imperata cylindrica as new levee vegetation species to control weeds. On 20 May 2005, Zoysia japonica with stolon lengths 10cm was planted (9 stolons per m2, 25 stolons per m2 and 100 stolons per m2) on bare ground as coverage not only to curb weed growth, but also to prevent erosion. One 10cm length rhizome with leaves of Imperata cylindrica was planted as a domain plant in the center of all plots on the same date. Plant stands were mowed at 8 cm height three times per year (At the end of May, end of July, and the end of Oct.) over two consecutive years. Zoysia japonica, Imperata cylindrica and weed dynamics were examined on each mowing date. We measured vegetation cover ratio by digital image analysis using Fractal analysis system version 3.4.7 for Windows. To estimate coverage by each plant species, we used a squared quadrat with 10cm mesh. In the first year, Digitaria ciliaris density significantly reduced Zoysia japonica density, while, in the second year, plant stands covered with Zoysia japonica had reduced Digitaria ciliaris density. We found a negative correlation between coverage ability of Zoysia japonica and Digitaria ciliaris density over two years. Imperata cylindrica started expanding by distributing daughter shoots on 22 May 2006.


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