The Impact of Chicory (Cichorium intybus) and Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) Cover Crops on Weed Diversity and Abundance in a Vineyard in Cayuga County, NY.

A study was conducted to investigate the potential of cover crops to act as weed suppressors in a small scale commercial vineyard in Cayuga County, New York. Sixty eight plots, each approximately 3m in length and 0.6m wide and planted to Vitis vitifera (grape) varieties, were included in this 2015 study. Plots received no herbicide application. Weed diversity and abundance under each of two cover crops Cichorium intybus (chicory) and Fagopyrum esculentum (buckwheat) were compared to plots with no cover crop. Weeds were randomly surveyed and identified to the species level. Weed abundance was scored on a 0 to 4 scale where 0 corresponded to weed absence and 4 corresponded to high abundance. A total of 38 weed species were identified in the study. The majority of these species were found only in the plots without cover crops. Only 4 weed species, dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), broadleaf plantain (Plantago major L.), milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), and leafy spurge (Euphorbia escula) were found in the cover cropped plots. The abundance of milkweed and leafy spurge was lower in the non-cover cropped plots than in the cover cropped plots. The abundance of broadleaf plantain and dandelion was higher in the non-cover cropped plots (averaging, respectively, 1.65 and 3.47 on the 4 point scale) than in the cover cropped plants (averaging, respectively, 0.13 and 1.63 on the 4 point scale). In the case of dandelion the difference in its abundance between non-cover cropped plots and cover cropped plots was statistically significant (χ ² = 6.72, p < 0.05). Cover crops effectively reduced weed diversity and significantly reduced dandelion abundance. In combination with other weed control measures, cover crops can play a role in weed management in vineyards in the Northeast.