Paper Title
The Effects of Flaming and Mechanical Control Methods, which are Alternative to Herbicides, on Weed Control at Sunflower

Abstract
The use of propane flaming in combination with cultivation could be a potential alternative control method in combating weeds of sunflower. In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of flaming and mechanical control on weeds in sunflower production. Field experiments were conducted at the experimental field of Agriculture Faculty of Inonu University, Malatya/Turkey to determine the level of weed control and the response of sunflower seed yield and its components to flaming and cultivation using a weed flamer in 2017. The treatments included weed-free control, weedy season-long and different combinations of broadcast flaming and mechanical cultivation (inter-row). The flaming application was applied once in the 2-4 leaf (V2-V4) period of the sunflower. Propane doses were 60 kg ha−1 for broadcast flaming treatments. The mechanical application is carried out once in the period of 2-4 leaves (V2-V4) and 4-6 leaves (V4-V6It was also applied twice in the period of 2-4 leaves (V2-V4) and 10-12 leaves (V10-V12), twice in the period of 4-6 leaves (V4-V6) and 10-12 leaves (V10-V12). At the end of the experiment, besides the effects of sunflower applications on weeds, the capitulum diameter, plant height, thousand-kernel weight and yield values of the sunflower were determined. The highest sunflower yield was obtained from weed-free control (3916.8 kg/ha), followed by twice cultivation application (V2-V4 ve V10-V12) (3862.8 kg/ha). The highest capitulum diameter was obtained from the twice cultivation application plot. The lowest yield and yield components were observed in the weedy control. It may be suggested that the application of cultivation in the weed control of the sunflower can increase the yield, thus may be used especially in organic agriculture. Keywords - Flaming, Cultivation, Sunflower, Weed Control