Weed Management in Organic Farming

Gallandt, Eric R.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1019-9_4

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This is most likely associated with greater expertise and more appropriate non-chemical weed management technologies. Modern approaches to non-chemical weed control can be very efficient (Bond & Grundy 2001, Gallandt 2014, in certain cases even better than an application of herbicide (Albrecht et al 2016). The application of such techniques can thus explain the lower ragweed abundances in Austrian organically farmed fields compared to those in Hungarian fields.…”

Section: Predictors Of the Differences Between The Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of Ambrosia artemisiifolia abundance in arable fields along the Austrian-Hungarian border

Pinke¹,

Kolejanisz²,

Vér³

et al. 2019

Preslia

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The Carpathian Basin is one of the most important regions in terms of the invasion of the common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in Europe. The invasion history of this weed, however, seems to have been assessed differently in Austria and Hungary: scientists in both countries assumed that this species had become abundant earlier and had caused more problems in their own than in other country. The goal of this study is to resolve the historical misunderstandings and scrutinize the related popular beliefs by a concise literature overview and an extensive analysis of the current patterns in ragweed infestations in crops in the borderlands in eastern Austria and western Hungary. The abundance of A. artemisiifolia was measured in 200 arable fields across the region, along with 31 background variables. Data were analysed using binomial generalized linear models (GLM), decision tree models and variation partitioning. Ambrosia artemisiifolia occurred more frequently in Hungary, but there were no significant differences in the proportion of larger cover values recorded in these two countries, and 'cover values > 10%' were even slightly more common in Austria. We found that previous crops of maize and soya bean and conventional farming were associated with the higher abundances in Austria, while organic farming was associated with relatively higher frequencies of heavy infestations in Hungarian fields. In the overall analysis crop cover was the most important variable with low crop cover associated with high ragweed abundance. Temperature and phosphorous fertilizer were negatively, while precipitation and soil phosphorous concentration positively associated with the abundance values. Land-use variables accounted for more of the variance in the abundance patterns of common ragweed than environmental variables. The current patterns in ragweed distribution might indicate that a saturation process is still underway on the Austrian side. The saturation lag of 20-30 years is possibly due to several factors and the role of the Iron Curtain in determining cross-border exchange of propagules could be decisive. Nevertheless, the discrepancies uncovered in the accounts of the invasion of Hungarian and Austrian authors might also be seen as legacies of the Iron Curtain, which were caused by mutual limitations on access to national data and literature of the other country in a critical period of rapid ragweed spread. These discrepancies, that had a long-lasting effect on the work of scientific communities, are documented here in detail for the first time. K e y w o r d s: agriculture, arable fields, common ragweed, invasion, invasive plants, ragweed, spread, weed distribution, weed ecology

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Section: Predictors Of the Differences Between The Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of Ambrosia artemisiifolia abundance in arable fields along the Austrian-Hungarian border

Pinke¹,

Kolejanisz²,

Vér³

et al. 2019

Preslia

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“…In organic systems, ASCs are considered a key strategy for managing weeds (Gallandt 2014). To this end, numerous organic producers terminate the ASCs before the subsequent cash crop to avoid competition and reduce weed emergence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agroecological service crops managed with roller crimper reduce weed density and weed species richness in organic vegetable systems across Europe

Navarro‐Miró

Blanco‐Moreno

Ciaccia³

et al. 2019

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Agroecological service crops are introduced into the vegetable crop rotation to provide agroecosystem services, and are a key strategy for weed management in organic systems. Organic farmers across Europe usually terminate these crops before cultivation of the subsequent cash crop, using them as green manure. Recently, the in-line tillage-roller crimper has attracted interest across Europe. It allows flattening the agroecological service crops and creates a narrow furrow that facilitates the fertilization and transplantation of organic vegetables. In Europe, most of the research on this technology has been carried out in Italy, and no studies are available analyzing its effect on weed density, weed species richness, and community composition in different vegetable crops, soils, and climatic conditions across Europe. We compared the effects of the usage of in-line tillage-roller crimper versus green manure on the weed abundance, species richness, and community composition in fourteen original datasets from five countries over 2 years. The support for a common effect of in-line tillage-roller crimper across trials was tested by means of a meta-analytic approach based on a weighted version of Stouffer's method. Our results indicate that in-line tillageroller crimper management reduced weed density by 35.1% on average in comparison with green manure, and this trend was significant across trials. Moreover, we document a significant reduction of weed species richness under this technique and significant but, in general, minor changes in the weed community composition across the trials. Therefore, this study provides for the first time a solid evidence of the effectiveness of this management technique to reduce weed density at the early stages of crop growth across a wide range of vegetable systems and production conditions in Europe. Nonetheless, it is important to note that the effect of this technology can be strongly affected by variations in cropping conditions.

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“…For example, preventing weeds from producing seeds can reduce the weed seedbank and lessen weed emergence in subsequent years (Norris, 1999). Such a ‘zero seed rain’ strategy attempts to reduce risks to both crop yields and labor management (Riemens et al, 2007; Gallandt, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To each their own: case studies of four successful, small-scale organic vegetable farmers with distinct weed management strategies

Brown¹,

Gallandt

2017

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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Organic vegetable farmers execute weed management using many overall philosophies, including focusing management during the early-season critical period, managing the weed seedbank with a ‘zero seed rain’ strategy, or physically suppressing weeds with plastic or natural mulches. While these strategies vary in their ecological and economic implications, farmers’ reasons for adopting specific weed management approaches, and the related practical implications of each approach remain unclear. To better understand farmer motivations and ecological impacts of broad weed management philosophies, we conducted case studies of four successful organic vegetable farmers with specialization in different management approaches. The farmers were interviewed about their experiences and soil samples were collected for weed community and soil organic matter (SOM) analysis. The farmer who controls weed seedlings primarily during the critical period has appreciated the associated weeding labor savings, but late-season weeds have contributed to a large weed seedbank (38,482 seeds m−2), which is necessitating a change in his management. Conversely, the zero seed rain strategy of another farmer required a large amount of labor in the initial years, but weeding labor requirements have lessened every year due to decreased weed emergence from his diminishing weed seedbank (3065 seeds m−2). Another farmer utilizes plastic mulch in many crops in order to reduce weeding labor during the busy spring planting season. Finally, the farmer that uses natural mulches has high labor costs, but they are offset by the benefits of weed suppression, soil moisture conservation and increases to SOM. The two farmers utilizing mulch had the greatest portion of monocotyledonous weeds, perhaps relating to their morphology allowing them to emerge through the mulch. In ranking management criteria based on their importance, the case study farmers generally valued the criteria that are benefited by their strategy, indicating a strong relationship between their priorities and their management. Overall, there was no ‘best’ weed management strategy, but farmers may benefit from the consideration of how their management priorities match the practical tradeoffs of each strategy.

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Weed Management in Organic Farming

Cited by 17 publications

References 62 publications

Drivers of Ambrosia artemisiifolia abundance in arable fields along the Austrian-Hungarian border

Drivers of Ambrosia artemisiifolia abundance in arable fields along the Austrian-Hungarian border

Agroecological service crops managed with roller crimper reduce weed density and weed species richness in organic vegetable systems across Europe

To each their own: case studies of four successful, small-scale organic vegetable farmers with distinct weed management strategies

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