Weed control in a pesticide‐free farming system with mineral fertilisers

Abstract

Negative impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health, the risk of pesticide residues in the food chain, and the problems with herbicide-resistant weed biotypes support the need for alternative cropping systems. The objective of this study was to investigate weed populations, weed management and crop yield in a pesticide-free cropping system with the use of mineral fertilisers. Conventional-, organic-and mineral-ecological cropping systems (MECS) with 6-year crop rotations including winter wheat, maize, winter triticale or winter rye, soyabean or spring pea, and spring barley were established in a randomised complete strip plot design with four repetitions. Experiments were conducted at four locations in Germany. Preventive and sensor-guided mechanical weed management strategies were applied in all crops in the organic system and in MECS. Herbicide were applied in the conventional farming system. Weed densities, weed species composition, weed control efficacy (WCE) and crop yield were analysed over 2 years in 2020 and 2021. Conventional farming had the highest WCE and 1-7 weeds m À2 (2.7% weed coverage) after herbicide application. In the organic cropping system and MECS, up to 27 weeds m À2 were counted after camera-guided weed hoeing. Weed coverage in MECS (9.7%) was higher than in the organic cropping system with 7.7%. Crop yield in MECS was equal to the conventional farming system and 20% higher yield than in the organic farming system. MECS represents a promising new and productive cropping practice if an effective integrated weed management strategy is applied.diverse farming systems, herbicide reduction, integrated weed management, mineral fertilisation, precision mechanical weed control | INTRODUCTIONOrganic farming systems are gaining more importance in food production. However, less than 10% of the European agricultural land is currently managed organically despite of considerable subsidies for organic farmers in the EU and benefits for the environment (Willer & Lernoud, 2018). Productivity, labour efficiency and yield stability of organic farming are considerably lower than in conventional farming systems (Kirchmann et al., 2009;Möhring et al., 2020). Conventional farming is often characterised by monoculture crop rotations with high

The Significance of Organic Horticulture in Mitigating Climate Change and Promoting the Production of Healthier Fruits and Vegetables

“…Traditional irrigation systems of flood irrigation and hand watering with the utilization of available sources of water, rainwater harvest, wastewater, and sewage as fertilizer [86][87][88][89] Applications of in-organic agriculture use drip irrigation and overhead irrigation with water conservation strategies through mulching [90] Conventional agricultural systems use large quantities of irrigation fresh water and fertilizers [91] Weed control Weed management strategies Nonchemical weed strategies used in traditional farming, such as crop rotations, cover crops, intercropping, and hand weeding [92] Increasing seeding rate suppresses the development of weeds through the use of mulch and long-term weed seedbank management [93,94] Intensive mechanical weeding and chemical weed control [95] Table 4. Cont.…”

Anticancer Effects in HT-29 Cells and Anti-Inflammatory Effects on Mouse Splenocytes of Broccoli Cultivated with Deep Sea Water Minerals in Organic Farming

“…However, the productivity, labor efficiency, and yield stability of organic farming are considerably lower than those of conventional farming systems. It was confirmed that when crops were grown using mineral fertilizers to improve this, productivity was increased compared with organic farming, and environmental risks associated with pesticide use were prevented [9]. Additionally, mineral fertilizers can affect soil microbial communities and consequently soil quality, which in turn affects plant growth, so it is important to better understand the effects of mineral fertilizers [10].…”