Diversity of weeds in a polyculture system: experience of agricultural technicians in a field school

Abstract

To identify weeds and to elucidate their growth and development habits, the diversity of weeds
of a polyculture system of tropical species was studied, during the dry season of 2014 in Chiapas,
Mexico; thus, seven ecological neighborhoods of papaya, banana and cocoa were studied
as focal trees. The most abundant weeds were Panicum maximum Jacq., Leptochloa filiformis
L., Tridax procumbens L. and Melampodium divaracatum DC., which are positively correlated
with the greatest amount of dry matter produced and coverage by species and ecological neighborhood;
the weirdest specimens were the ones of the genus Ludwigia sp., while the most
resistant specimen to glyphosate was Tridax procumbens L. The ecological neighborhood with
the most weed dry matter was cocoa Theobroma cacao L. and Crotalaria longirostrata L. and
the lowest was banana Musa sp. Colla cv Dominico. The ecological neighborhood with the
most number of species was cocoa with its neighbor Crotalaria longirostrata L.