FLORISTIC COMPOSITION AND WEED SEED BANK IN INTENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE CULTIVATION OF VINE GRAPE

Floristic composition of weed species occurs as the companion of cultivated plants, including vine grape as a perennial culture. Knowledge of weed seed banks in agro-eco systems of certain region enables better choice of cultivation practices, as well as rational herbicide use. In the period 2011-2012 studies of floristic composition and weed seed banks in vine grape grown both intensively and extensively were performed. The aim of the study was to determine the relation of floristic composition and weed seed bank in vine grape plantations with different cultivation practices. In addition to the farming operations of soil tillage, intensive cultivation method would involve also herbicide use and extensive farming would involve all cropping operations without herbicide use. Soil samples for determination of weed seed bank were taken at the beginning and at the end of the growing season from each
plot in ten replications. Samples were taken from different depths of the arable soil layer, i.e. from 0-10 cm, 10-20 and 20-30 cm (Conn, 1987; Sharratt, 1998). Despite great diversity of weed species, whose seeds were determined from the samples, only few weed species dominated with a greater number of seed, and these were Amaranthus retroflexus L., Portulaca oleracea L., Chenopodium album L., Stellaria media (L.) Vill. and Lamium purpureum L.