Strategies for the use of natural products for weed management

Abstract

Natural products have not been utilized as extensively for weed management as they have been for insect and plant pathogen management, but there are several notable successes such as glufosinate and the natural product-derived triketone herbicides. The two fundamental approaches to the use of natural products for weed management are: 1) as a herbicide or a lead for a synthetic herbicide and 2) use in allelopathic crops or cover crops. New technologies, such as molecular biology, provide tools for expanding the use of natural products in weed management. Strategies for implementation of these approaches are discussed, along with examples.