Euphorbia dentata is a spring-summer annual weed first detected in Azul Co., Buenos Aires Province, Argentina., in 1983, in an isolated soybean crop spot crops. It is now found as a weed in 85 % of the cropland, with densities ranging from 20 to 200 plants m-2. Two year- field studies were conducted to determine the competition relationship between soybean and E. dentata. The effect of different weed densities was evaluated on yield parameters and biomass. Both soybean dry weight and yield gave a significant response to weed density and biomass, resulting in a reduction of 80% due to interference starting at a density of 20 plants m². It was determined that E. dentata has a strong influence on soybean yield showing a linear response at the range of the studied densities, fitted to a regression equation indicating that seed production decreases 6,73 kg ha-1 for each plant m-2 increase of E. dentata. From the crop yield components, the number of pods per plant was more severely affected by competition reducing yield in 40%, when compared to the unweeded treatment. The number of grains per pod and weight of 1000 seeds were significantly affected at high densities of E. dentata (55 plants m-2). High correlation levels were found between soybean seed yield, number of pods per plant and weight of 1000 seeds (98 and 85 % respectively).
crop yield; weed densities; biomass; Glycine max; EPHDE
