-J. 2006. A decade of herbicide-resistant crops in Canada. Can. J. Plant Sci. 86: 1243-1264. This review examines some agronomic, economic, and environmental impacts of herbicide-resistant (HR) canola, soybean, corn, and wheat in Canada after 10 yr of growing HR cultivars. The rapid adoption of HR canola and soybean suggests a net economic benefit to farmers. HR crops often have improved weed management, greater yields or economic returns, and similar or reduced environmental impact compared with their non-HR crop counterparts. There are no marked changes in volunteer weed problems associated with these crops, except in zero-tillage systems when glyphosate is used alone to control canola volunteers. Although gene flow from glyphosate-HR canola to wild populations of bird's rape (Brassica rapa L.) in eastern Canada has been measured, enrichment of hybrid plants in such populations should only occur when and where herbicide selection pressure is applied. Weed shifts as a consequence of HR canola have been documented, but a reduction in weed species diversity has not been demonstrated. However, reliance on HR crops in rotations using the same mode-of-action herbicide and/or multiple in-crop herbicide applications over time can result in intense selection pressure for weed resistance and consequently, greater herbicide use in the future to control HR weed biotypes. History has repeatedly shown that cropping system diversity is the pillar of sustainable agriculture; stewardship of HR crops must adhere to this fundamental principle. L'adoption rapide du canola et du soja RH laisse croire que les agriculteurs y trouvent un net avantage économique. Les cultures RH ont souvent facilité la lutte contre les mauvaises herbes, accru le rendement ou les revenus tout en ayant un impact similaire voire plus faible que les cultures qui ne le sont pas sur l'environnement. On ne remarque pas de changement marqué au niveau de la repousse spontanée des adventices avec ces cultures, sauf dans les systèmes de non-travail du sol où l'on n'utilise que du glyphosate pour combattre la repousse spontanée du canola. Bien qu'on ait mesuré la transmission de gènes du canola résistant au glyphosate aux populations sauvages de navette (Brassica rapa L.) dans l'est du Canada, l'enrichissement de ces populations par des hybrides ne survient que si l'herbicide accentue la pression sélective. La littérature scientifique cite des cas où la population d'adventices change consécutivement à la culture de canola RH, mais on n'a pu démontrer l'appauvrissement de la diversité des espèces. Employer des cultures RH dans les assolements où l'on recourt à des herbicides ayant le même mode d'action ou applique une multitude d'herbicides peut néanmoins déboucher avec le temps sur une intense pression sélective qui favorisera les adventices plus résistantes, ce qui nécessitera éventuellement un usage plus intense d'herbicides pour lutter contre les biotypes RH. L'histoire a montré à maintes reprises que la variété des systèmes agricoles est la pierre angulaire ...

There is interest in more diverse weed management tactics because of evolved herbicide resistance in important weeds in many US and Canadian crop systems. While herbicide resistance in weeds is not new, the issue has become critical because of the adoption of simple, convenient and inexpensive crop systems based on genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crop cultivars. Importantly, genetic engineering has not been a factor in rice and wheat, two globally important food crops. There are many tactics that help to mitigate herbicide resistance in weeds and should be widely adopted. Evolved herbicide resistance in key weeds has influenced a limited number of growers to include a more diverse suite of tactics to supplement existing herbicidal tactics. Most growers still emphasize herbicides, often to the exclusion of alternative tactics. Application of integrated pest management for weeds is better characterized as integrated weed management, and more typically integrated herbicide management. However, adoption of diverse weed management tactics is limited. Modifying herbicide use will not solve herbicide resistance in weeds, and the relief provided by different herbicide use practices is generally short-lived at best. More diversity of tactics for weed management must be incorporated in crop systems.

A randomized stratified survey was conducted in Alberta in 2017 to determine the distribution and abundance of multiple-resistant (acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor, glycine, synthetic auxin) kochia. All populations were ALS inhibitor-resistant, with glyphosate and dicamba resistance confirmed in 50 and 18% of populations, respectively. Ten percent of populations exhibited resistance to all three site-of-action herbicides.

Weed resistance monitoring has been routinely conducted in the Northern Great Plains of Canada (Prairies) since the mid-1990s. Most recently, random surveys were conducted in Alberta in 2001, Manitoba in 2002, and Saskatchewan in 2003 totaling nearly 800 fields. In addition, nearly 1,300 weed seed samples were submitted by growers across the Prairies between 1996 and 2006 for resistance testing. Collected or submitted samples were screened for group 1 [acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitor] and/or group 2 [acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor] resistance. Twenty percent of 565 sampled fields had an herbicide-resistant (HR) wild oat biotype. Most populations exhibited broad cross-resistance across various classes of group 1 or group 2 herbicides. In Manitoba, 22% of 59 fields had group 1–HR green foxtail. Group 2–HR biotypes of kochia were documented in Saskatchewan, common chickweed and spiny sowthistle in Alberta, and green foxtail and redroot pigweed in Manitoba. Across the Prairies, HR weeds are estimated to occur in fields covering an area of nearly 5 million ha. Of 1,067 wild oat seed samples submitted by growers and industry for testing between 1996 and 2006, 725 were group 1 HR, 34 group 2 HR, and 55 groups 1 and 2 HR. Of 80 submitted green foxtail samples, 26 were confirmed group 1 HR; most populations originated from southern Manitoba where the weed is most abundant. Similar to the field surveys, various group 2–HR biotypes were confirmed among submitted samples: kochia, wild mustard, field pennycress,Galiumspp., common chickweed, and common hempnettle. Information from grower questionnaires indicates patterns of herbicide usage are related to location, changing with cropping system. Two herbicide modes of action most prone to select resistance, groups 1 and 2, continue to be widely and repeatedly used. There is little evidence that growers are aware of the level of resistance within their fields, but a majority have adopted herbicide rotations to proactively or reactively manage HR weeds.

. 2000. Weed communities associated with arable Saskatchewan farm management systems. Can. J. Plant Sci. 80: 177-185. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of a range of management systems on weed communities in cropped fields on farms in Saskatchewan. Farms (n = 28) with management systems defined by a combination of different cropping histories and chemical input levels were selected. Fields were surveyed on each farm in 1995, 1996, and 1997 after any post-emergent weed control to ensure that their weed communities reflected the impact of all agronomic management practices typical of the management system. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to determine whether weed communities were significantly correlated with management system after removal of variance due to ecoregion and year. The largest difference in weed communities attributable to farming system was between the systems with annual cropping histories and those that included perennials in the cropping history. Thus, the life history of the weeds reflected the life history of the crops. Herbicide use was correlated with the next largest difference between systems. A significant association between weed communities and different management systems indicates that weed species are being selected for by these systems. If such selection pressure continues, these species may become a threat to the system's sustainability. 1995, 1996 et 1997 au moins deux semaines après tout traitement de désherbage de post-levée, afin d'assurer que leurs communautés de mauvaises herbes reflétaient bien l'effet de toutes les pratiques agronomiques caractéristiques du système cultural. Une analyse de correspondance canonique était exécutée pour établir le degré de signification de la corrélation avec le système cultural, une fois éliminée la variance due à la région écologique et à l'année. Les plus larges différences attribuables au système cultural affectant les communautés de mauvaises herbes étaient observées entre les systèmes ne comportant que des cultures annuelles dans leurs antécédents culturaux et ceux qui comprenaient aussi des cultures pluriannuelles. Ainsi l'évolution des communautés de mauvaises herbes reflétai les antécédents culturaux utilisés. La seconde différence en importance observée entre les systèmes était reliée à l'utilisation des herbicides. L'association significative constatée entre les communautés de mauvaises herbes et les différents systèmes culturaux signifie que ces systèmes opèrent une sélection parmi les espèces adventices. Si cette pression de sélection perdure, il y a risque que ces nouvelles communautés de mauvaises herbes deviennent une menace pour la durabilité même des systèmes utilisés.