Dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) yielding and weed infestation response, under different tillage conditions

• Grain-legumes species are considered key components within conservation agriculture.
• We observed a strong environmental influence on pea yield and yield components.
• It is desirable stepping up the research on weeds related with cropping systems.
• We showed that tillage systems cause significant impacts on weed community.

Legume-crops are considered important components of conservation farming and also of the conventional system in recent years. However, a lack of studies reflect a priority need for primary research into food legumes and their impact on farming systems, which is currently at secondary level to cereals in terms of investigation. The present field study was undertaken to compare the effects of different tillage systems on yielding and weed infestation of pea. Tillage treatments employed included conservation (minimum-tillage and zero-tillage) and conventional system (conventional-tillage) under semi-arid conditions. The weather had a marked influence on yielding and weed diversity of pea crop over the study period. Tillage system had no effect on pea grain yield and the yield components of pea. We observed, with scarcer annual rainfall, lower values of grain yield, straw biomass, harvest index and yield components in minimum-tillage plots. This could be attributable to an increase of the weed community favoured by rooting conditions. Weed density and diversity indices (Shannon and Evenness) presented the highest values in minimum tillage system. Particularly, we observed that decreasing tillage favoured the increase of one annual grass weed (Lolium rigidum Gaudin). Our results highlight the research on weed species associated with low-input systems.