Critical Period of Weed Control in Maize as Influenced by Soil Tillage Practices and Glyphosate Application
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsWeeds have always accompanied plant production, reducing both the quantity and quality of crop yields. The harmfulness of a weed community depends on many factors, including: on the intensity of their occurrence, species composition, crop plant, and the length of the period during which they compete with the crop plant. The most common method of reducing weed infestation is the use of herbicides. However, in recent years, attention has been paid to reducing the negative impact of agricultural production on the environment and reducing the use of chemical plant protection products. And in many countries, the use of integrated plant protection has been introduced. Due to the cultivation in wide rows, corn is susceptible to competition from weeds, especially in the initial period of growth. Therefore, I believe that the research presented in the manuscript is interesting and consistent with the thematic scope of the Agronomy journal.
The research presented in the manuscript was well planned and performed, it allows to explain the hypotheses put forward in the introduction. The results were statistically analyzed and discussed and interpreted in detail. Tables and graphs are generally well prepared, understandable and legible.
The weak point of manuscript is the fact that it contains results from one year of research, which in the case of field experiment is not sufficient to formulate reliable conclusions and recommendations.
A few detailed comments
1. In the title of chart 1, state that the meteorological data are for 2021
2. line [143] - On what scale were the development stages of maize determined? The most appropriate would be the BBCH scale, which is used in line [160].
3. line [152-153] – is’….plots were maintained free of weeds for the remaining season through the application of Tembotrione (44 g a. i. ha−1, Laudis® , Bayer AG, Germany) or by hoeing..’ - How to understand? Some plots with herbicide and other plots by hoeing?. Please clarify this.
4. In subsection 2.2. please specify what the forecrop was. Is ‘…was left undisturbed, and the maize was sown directly into stubble….’ In to stubble of what?. Please also provide information that glyphosate was used in NT TP.
5. When discussing the results, reference must be made to the statistical analysis. In line [236-237] is – ‘….showed a statistically significant effect of TP on plant density (p ≤ 0.001), while no effect was observed for plant height (p = 0.401) and dry biomass (p = 0.141)’ And then in line [245-246] they write ‘Maize plants were the highest in the CN TP, reaching 288.6 cm, which was higher than plants in the CS and NT TP (281.1 cm and 287.3 cm) or in line [251-252] ‘The DM of maize plants in the NT TP reached 154.9 g plant-1, which was greater than that in the CN and CS TP (103.5 g plant-1 and 118.5 g plant-1, respectively)’. After all, the differences were not significant, we can only speak of a certain tendency
6. In the "Discussion", it is worth emphasizing that the lower weed infestation in NT TP is the result of the use of glyphosate, and whether this is part of an IWM strategies.
Author Response
The authors are grateful for the comments. Please see the attachment with the point-by-point response to comments.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsComments for authors
Title
In the NT TP practice, glyphosate application was made to control perennial and winter annual weeds. This important information must appear in the title of the manuscript. As an example: “Critical period of weed control in maize as influenced by soil tillage practices and glyphosate application”
Abstract
L13-14: not only tillage practice, but also pre-emergence glyphosate application in NT TP, please modify here rather than giving this information at the end of the abstract. Moreover, see comment below.
Introduction
L34: “than before to”, please rephrase
L40: “novel” is not correct because these IWM strategies have been known for a long time; I would replace it with “certain”
General comment: I suggest restructuring the Introduction section by moving the paragraphs L45-55 to the end of the Introduction, after the developments on cultivation of maize and tillage practices.
Materials and Methods
L136-137: Is soil compaction with a roller after sowing a standard technique for the different tillage practices tested? It is possible that the soil compaction had an impact on the germination of the crop and weed plants. Please detail.
L140: only ammonium or other inputs containing ammonium?
L149: repetition, please remove
L165: the sampling area of the weed harvest quadrat (0.25m²) is small. Why not replicating this sampling in the plot for more precision? Please detail
L172-176: There are several methods for calculating GDD in the literature. Please specify the correction made if the lower limit is reached (e.g. 9°C), i.e. if (Tmax + Tmin)/2 < Tbase. Or indicated that this scenario was not observed during the maize cycle.
L181-187: have you tested and compared other models than a four-parameter log-logistic model, such as a three-parameter log-logistic model or a beta growth function?
L189-190: the Levene test consider the homogeneity of variance between populations, also why saying “These tests showed that the data were normally distributed”, please modify.
L195: the drc R package does not seem to include Levene's test, please clarify
L195: the drc R package does not seem to include lmm analyses, please clarify. Moreover, the linear mixed models used need to be more detailed in terms of prerequisite justifying the use of this type of model.
Results and Discussion
L216: please explain this sentence and the literature reference cited in peanuts
L216-218: I agree with your sentence, but why using the literature reference Horvath et al. (2023) currently debated (see Colbach, N., Adeux, G., Cordeau, S., & Moreau, D. (2023). Weed-induced yield loss through resource competition cannot be sidelined. Trends in Plant Science.). Other literature references are available.
L223-226: glyphosate application is an important lever explaining dry weed biomass (as indicated here and in L305-307 of the manuscript), also this important information must appear in the title of the manuscript. Moreover, this information is not explained in details in the Materials and Methods section and is necessary. I suggest modifying the definition of your “tillage practices” by including this element into the name of the NT practice so as not to mislead the reader.
L245-260: the results being not statistically significant, why focusing the discussion and the literature references cited on work highlighting significant differences, please modify and rephrase.
Figure
Table 1: please clarify if the model used is a four-parameter log-logistic model (caption of the table) or a three-parameter log-logistic model (information below the table).
Table 2: please give the units, when relevant, for the parameters of these four-parameter log-logistic models.
General comment: it is nowhere indicated that the weed flora is the spontaneous weed flora of the arable field, but this seems to be the case, please clarify. Moreover, why not sow a homogeneous weed flora in order to avoid uncontrolled development of weeds in terms of composition and abundance, making interpretation much more difficult.
Conclusions and Management Implications
L329-330: because the NT plot also includes the use of a pre-emergence herbicide.
General comment: In the manuscript, NT TP seems a relevant option. However, as NT TP includes the application of a pre-emergence herbicide, it does not lead to a reduction in the use of herbicides as discussed in the beginning of the Conclusion section. The main message of the manuscript is therefore not clear.
Author Response
The authors are grateful for the comments. Please see the attachment with the point-by-point response to comments.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
