Barley cover crops outperform brown mustard for early-season weed control in New Mexico chile pepper

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and brown mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.] are winter cover crops known to produce allelochemicals that suppress plant growth. Incorporating barley or brown mustard residues into the soil before planting a spring-seeded cash crop may suppress early-season weeds in the cash crop; however, the comparative levels of weed suppression offered by barley and brown mustard cover crops incorporated into soil have not been determined. This study analyzed the relative capacities of barley and brown mustard cover crops to suppress early-season weeds of spring-seeded chile pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Reductions in weed density or hand-hoeing time as a result of barley and/or brown mustard cover crop treatment were determined in two chile pepper fields in New Mexico over two growing seasons. For cover crop species that suppressed weeds in multiple site-years, a controlled environment study clarified possible growth stages adversely affected by determining the effects..., , # Data from: Barley cover crops outperform brown mustard for early-season weed control in New Mexico chile pepper

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz8v](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz8v)

## Description of the data and file structure

The first objective of this study was to quantify amounts of aboveground biomass produced by barley (*Hordeum vulgare*) and brown mustard (*Brassica juncea*) cover crops grown in southern and central New Mexico. The second objective of this study was to evaluate barley and brown mustard green manures for their effects on weed density, hand-hoeing time, and fruit yield in chile pepper (*Capsicum annuum*) seeded after termination of the cover crops. The third objective was to determine barley-amended soil effects on germination and seedling development of the annual weed, Palmer amaranth (*Amaranthus palmeri*).

To accomplish Objective 1 and Objective 2, a field study was conducted at two sites, with each site including two experimental runs. Treatme...,