Review: Non-chemical weed control in arable crops

A pan-European group of weed specialists has examined the possibilities for using non-chemical methods for weed control in reduced tillage arable systems. The review covers the redesigning of cropping systems, cover crops, stubble management strategies, tactics to strengthen crop growth relative to weed growth and direct mechanical weed control methods. Lead author Bo Melander, of Denmark’s Aarhus University, explains more:

“We are a group of ENDURE partners who have reviewed the European literature on weed problems and management in reduced tillage systems in order to analyse the perspectives of adopting non-chemical methods in these cropping systems.

“Both future European Union and national regulations on pesticide use ask European agriculture to become less dependent on pesticides and focus more on alternative solutions for weed problems. This can become very critical for reduced tillage systems because desisting from inverting tillage, such as mouldboard ploughing, inevitably leads to a stronger dependence on herbicides and eventually a higher consumption of chemicals.

“It will be very challenging for growers to comply with the intentions of European pesticide regulations. The review points to some of the non-chemical methods that may have immediate usage in today’s non-inversion tillage systems but also emphasizes where research and innovation need to produce new solutions to meet the situation.”