Herbicidal activity of foliar-applied oxyfluorfen [2-chloro-1-(3-ethoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzene] was light dependent in buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench. ‘Tokyo’). Plants were not injured when placed in the dark for as long as 4 days after herbicide treatment. When these plants were brought to the light, injury occurred, albeit more slowly than when plants were placed in the light immediately after treatment. The rate of injury increased as light intensity increased. The most effective wave length was 565 to 615 ηm, suggesting the involvement of a pigment with its absorption spectrum in this region. Chlorophyll content was not reduced by oxyfluorfen. Preliminary evidence suggests that photosynthesis was affected only after membrane integrity was disrupted.

Field experiments were conducted in 1992 and 1993 in southern Manitoba to investigate the tolerance of buckwheat, canola, field pea, lentil, and sunflower to simulated drift of 2:1 mixtures of thifensulfuron:tribenuron. Thifensulfuron:tribenuron at 0.23 to 3.6 g ai/ha was highly phytotoxic to all crops examined. Leaf area index 2 and 4 wk after treatment, seed yield, and seed weight were reduced for all crops at the rates examined. Predicted yield losses at 0.23 g/ha, averaged over two years, were 16% for sunflower, 20% for buckwheat, 22% for canola, 26% for lentil, and 37% for field pea. For each of the five crops, there was a strong linear relationship between percentage visual injury 2 wk after exposure and final yield. Simulated thifensulfuron:tribenuron drift reduced seed oil content of canola and sunflower. In one year, canola, field pea and lentil seed germination was reduced following exposure to simulated drift.

A primary challenge of managing vegetable production on a small land base is the maintenance and building of soil quality. Previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of cover crops for improved soil quality; however, small growers struggle to fit cover crops into rotations. Small-scale growers with limited available land are under significant pressure to maximize their saleable yield and often work to maximize output by using intensive cropping practices that may include both early and late season crops, thus limiting the typical shoulder season windows in which cover crops can be grown. In-season living mulches may be an effective strategy to provide small-scale growers the benefits of cover crops with less land commitment than cover crops used in typical rotations. However, research on living mulches is generally not suited to small-scale organic production systems due to the typical reliance on chemical herbicide to suppress mulches. An experiment was designed with the goal of evaluating living mulch systems for space-limited organic vegetable production. In a 2-year study, four living mulch crops (buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), field pea (Pisum sativum), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum) and medium red clover (Trifolium pratense)) and a cultivated control with no mulch cover were planted in early spring each year. Snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris var. Tavera), transplanted bell peppers (Capsicum annuum var. Revolution), and transplanted fall broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Imperial) were then planted directly into living mulches. During each summer growing season, living mulches and weeds were mown between-rows and hand-weeded in-row approximately every 10–14 days as needed for management. Labor times for mowing and cultivation were found to be higher in all treatments relative to the cultivated control. An inverse relationship between living mulch biomass and weed biomass was observed, demonstrating that living mulches may contribute to weed suppression. However, lower vegetable yields were seen in the living mulch treatments, most likely due to resource competition among vegetables, living mulches and weeds. High pre-existing weed seedbank and drought conditions likely increased competition and contributed to reduced vegetable yield.

Crop seeds accumulate soluble carbohydrates as part of their maturation process. In legume seeds, the major soluble carbohydrates are sucrose and its galactosides raffinose, stachyose and verbascose. In buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) seeds, the major soluble carbohydrates are sucrose and galactosides of d-chiro-inositol, named fagopyritols. This study was conducted to determine changes in soluble carbohydrate accumulation in embryos of buckwheat seeds after feeding solutions containing the free cyclitols D-chiro-inositol, myo-inositol and d-pinitol to stem–leaf–seed explants. Feeding D-chiro-inositol to explants resulted in a fourfold to fivefold increase in the accumulation of free d-chiro-inositol, fagopyritol A1 and fagopyritol B1 in embryos of mature seeds, but resulted in 30% less embryo dry weight compared to the control treatment without cyclitols. Feeding myo-inositol to buckwheat explants increased d-chiro-inositol in leaves and increased accumulation of fagopyritol A1 and fagopyritol B1 fivefold in embryos, fagopyritol A2 and fagopyritol B2 fourfold; fagopyritol A3 and fagopyritol B3 were also detected, with no reduction in accumulated embryo dry weight. Feeding d-pinitol to buckwheat explants resulted in accumulation of free d-pinitol in mature embryos, but not galactopinitols. D-Pinitol, galactopinitol A and galactopinitol B were not detected in embryos from explants fed solutions without d-pinitol. Feeding d-pinitol also resulted in reduced D-chiro-inositol accumulation by buckwheat seeds. The results indicate that myo-inositol may be the precursor to d-chiro-inositol synthesis, and fagopyritols accumulated in response to d-chiro-inositol availability in the embryo. We suggest that increasing myo-inositol in buckwheat maternal tissues may be an effective means to enhance the accumulation of D-chiro-inositol and fagopyritols in seeds, compounds that may be beneficial for the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.