Sustainable weed management

Abstract

Weed management is an essential element of successful crop production. In recent times, an exponential rise in human population and drastic changes in climate and production techniques have intensified the crop production systems and increased the weed infestations. The evolution of herbicide resistance in a large number of weed species across the world has further aggravated the situation. These circumstances require sustainable weed management tools that can be used effectively to achieve decent crop yields without affecting the environment and ecosystem services negatively. Some of the conventional weed control methods, including the use of preventive measures, tillage and mechanical control, crop competition, soil coverage, crop rotations and crop diversification, are still effective and eco-friendly. The ecological phenomenon of allelopathy could also be explored in different ways for sustainable weed management. Recent advances in the fields of renewable energy, remote sensing, modelling, automation and robotics have opened new windows for more physical weed control methods such as thermal weed control, precision weed control and harvest weed seed control. These methods are quite expensive and do not suit all geographical conditions, but these are going through rapid evolution and modifications that will make them more affordable, precise and pragmatic in the near future. Although the ecologically-based, cultural and physical weed control methods have great potential for sustainable weed management, herbicides cannot be completely left out. In fact, herbicides could be an effective tool in an integrated weed management kit. However, the true integrated weed management strategies must have a balance between chemical and non-chemical options that can be used judiciously in order to achieve a reasonable weed control. Sustainable weed management is an achievable goal provided that efforts are made to diversify the management.