Weed biology – A required foundation for effective weed management

Gulshan Mahajan and Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

Keywords:

crop husbandry, harvest weed-seed tactics, seed ecology, weed phenology, seed bank, weed seed reproduction

Abstract:

Understanding of the biology of weeds (characteristics of seed production, seed dormancy, seedling emergence, plant growth, reproduction, and seed retention, as well as other physiological and morphological traits) is a prerequisite for the development of effective and sustainable weed management systems. Weeds are a persistent problem in agriculture, as they pose a direct threat to farmers’ profitability. Farmers currently rely heavily on herbicides for weed control; however, the development of herbicide-resistance and mechanisms of phenotypic, as well as genetic plasticity, in weeds amount to significant challenges in weed management. These are in addition to the underlying issue of environmental pollution as an outcome of excessive herbicide use. The results of weed biology studies are essential to reducing or eliminating the abundance of weeds and the development of herbicide-resistant weeds. Integrated weed management strategies, IWM (e.g. narrow row spacing, competitive cultivars, optimum sowing time and planting density, and harvest weed seed control) for effective weed control can be linked to currently available information on weed biology. The integration of management techniques based on biological knowledge of individual weeds could provide for sustainable weed control and the mitigation of herbicide resistance under both current and projected conditions.