An Undergraduate Student Project to Improve Mechanical Control of Perennial Nutsedges with a Peanut Digger in Organic Crop Production

作者：Johnson W Carroll III^*; Way Thomas R; Beale David G

来源：Weed Technology, 2015, 29(4): 861-867.

DOI：10.1614/WT-D-15-00080.1

• Organic transition
• physical weed control
• specialized tillage

Yellow and purple nutsedge are common in the southeastern United States, and both perennial species are difficult to control in organic crop-production systems. Tubers are generally confined to the upper portions of the soil profile and are vulnerable to desiccation when brought to the soil surface. A peanut digger is a common implement found in the coastal plain region of the southeastern United States and has shown promise controlling perennial nutsedges in fallow sites. The peanut digger undercuts perennial nutsedges, deposits weeds on the soil surface, and exposes weeds to desiccation. However, rainfall after tillage with the peanut digger allows displaced nutsedges to survive. As part of a senior-level class project, undergraduate mechanical engineering students from Auburn University designed and constructed a cart attached to a peanut digger that collected nutsedges. Key features included a custom hitch that allowed the correct plane of movement and a hydraulic conveyor system that discarded the perennial nutsedges off-site, away from the field. The prototype was tested in a fallow location in the summer of 2014 with a yellow nutsedge infestation averaging 148 plants m(-2). One week after the initial field test, tillage using the peanut digger with specialized cart reduced yellow nutsedge densities in the tilled area by > 99%.

• 出版日期2015-12