Site-specific Weed Management
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
12-2017
Abstract
Since the advent of agriculture, weed management has been a critical component of the production system. However, weed management strategies are culture specific. For example, in the Central United States, Native Americans used squash and beans planted between corn plants to suppress weeds, whereas the settlers used tillage (Clay et al., 2017). Anyone who has tended a garden knows about weeds. When scaling up from garden plots to agronomic fields, a single season of mismanagement can turn a relatively weed-free field into a patch of weeds. This is because the soil contains millions of viable weed seeds of multiple species per acre. If there is emergence and survival of only 1% of 1 000 000 seeds, the result is 10 000 plants per acre. Depending on the species, plant competition and time of emergence, a single new plant can produce 500 to over 1 000 000 seeds during a growing season (Stevens, 1932; Clay et al., 2005; Uscanga-Mortera et al., 2007) that replenish the soil seed bank, which perpetuates the weed problem and increases the need for management.
Publication Title
Integrated Weed Management for Sustainable Agriculture
Volume
Chapter 7
First Page
129
Last Page
154
Recommended Citation
Clay, Sharon A. and Bruggeman, Stephanie A., "Site-specific Weed Management" (2017). Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications. 65.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/plant_faculty_pubs/65