Effect of Seed Depth on Population Frequency and Viability of Wild Oat (Avena spp.) in Wheat Monoculture Cropping Systems

Considering the effect of tillage on seed density and distribution, predicting wild oat germination in various soil depths, as affected by plowing system, is necessary. An experiment was designed to count number of wild oat seeds in soil samples taken from four depts in two occasions: first-pre spring plowing (soil surface, 0-5cm, 5-10 cm, 10-15 cm), and 15-20 cm). and second post spring plowing ( 0-5 cm, 5-10cm, 10-15). The experiment was run as randomized complete blocks design with 4 treatments (soil depths), 4 blocks (farms), and 5 replications (observations). Results indicated that pri-plowing, surface seeds had the lowest germination rate of 35%. Number of seeds reduced of depth 0-5 cm. viable seeds in pre-plowing were 81% which was significantly lower than the post-plowing 96%. It was also shown that number of seeds increased by 28% in post-plowing samples, but germination was low due to dormancy.