Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Brookings, South Dakota » Integrated Cropping Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #192790
Title: CULTURAL WEED MANAGEMENT

Author
item BLACKSHAW, ROBERT - AGCANADA
item Anderson, Randal
item LEMERLE, DEIRDRE - AUSTRALIA

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/27/2006
Publication Date: 10/1/2007
Citation: Blackshaw, R.E., Anderson, R.L., Lemerle, D. 2007. Cultural Weed Management. In: Upadhyaya, M.K., and Blackshaw, R.E., editors. Non-chemical Weed Control. King's Lynn, United Kingdom: Biddles Ltd. p. 35-47.

Interpretive Summary: Producers are changing their approach to weed management. With the increasing number of resistant weeds, the current approach to managing weeds by reliance only on herbicides is becoming less effective. This chapter describes the numerous cultural options producers have to manage weeds in addition to herbicides. Benefits and drawbacks of each tactic are considered. A unique aspect of cultural tactics is that weed community density can be reduced by a systematic approach to disrupting weed population dynamics. With this approach, the need for herbicides to control weeds can be reduced by one half.

Technical Abstract: Producers are seeking to broaden their perspective in weed management. In place of extensive reliance on herbicides, they would like to include other cultural tactics to not only strengthen the performance of herbicides, but to possibly replace the need for herbicides in some situations. In this chapter, we describe the numerous cultural options available as well as possible benefits and drawbacks with each tactic. We also discuss the impact of integrating several cultural tactics together into a management system. In the semiarid Great Plains of North America, a multi-tactic approach has reduced weed community density such that herbicide need is reduced 50%. Similar results have occurred in Australia.