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Sustainable Weed Management for Conservation Agriculture: Options for Smallholder Farmers

Author

Listed:
  • Brian Sims

    (Engineering for Development, 3 Bourneside, Bedford MK41 7EG, UK)

  • Sandra Corsi

    (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, Viale Delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy)

  • Gualbert Gbehounou

    (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, Viale Delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy)

  • Josef Kienzle

    (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, Viale Delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy)

  • Makiko Taguchi

    (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, Viale Delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy)

  • Theodor Friedrich

    (FAO Representative in Bolivia, Calle 14, No 8008, Calacoto, La Paz, Bolivia)

Abstract

Land degradation and soil fertility deterioration are two of the main causes of agricultural production stagnation and decline in many parts of the world. The model of crop production based on mechanical soil tillage and exposed soils is typically accompanied by negative effects on the natural resource base of the farming environment, which can be so serious that they jeopardize agricultural productive potential in the future. This form of agriculture is destructive to soil health and accelerates the loss of soil by increasing its mineralization and erosion rates. Conservation agriculture, a system avoiding or minimizing soil mechanical disturbance (no-tillage) combined with soil cover and crop diversification, is considered a sustainable agro-ecological approach to resource-conserving agricultural production. A major objective of tillage is supposed to be weed control, and it does not require very specific knowledge because soil inversion controls (at least temporarily) most weeds mechanically (i.e., by way of burying them). However, repeated ploughing only changes the weed population, but does not control weeds in the long term. The same applies to the mechanical uprooting of weeds. While in the short term some tillage operations can control weeds on farms, tillage systems can increase and propagate weeds off-farm. The absence of tillage, under conservation agriculture, requires other measures of weed control. One of the ways in which this is realized is through herbicide application. However, environmental concerns, herbicide resistance and access to appropriate agro-chemicals on the part of resource-poor farmers, highlight the need for alternative weed control strategies that are effective and accessible for smallholders adopting conservation agriculture. Farmers in semi-arid regions contend with the additional challenge of low biomass production and, often, competition with livestock enterprises, which limit the potential weed-suppressing benefits of mulch and living cover crops. This paper reviews the applicability and efficacy of various mechanical, biological and integrated weed management strategies for the effective and sustainable management of weeds in smallholder conservation agriculture systems, including the role of appropriate equipment and prerequisites for smallholders within a sustainable intensification scenario.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Sims & Sandra Corsi & Gualbert Gbehounou & Josef Kienzle & Makiko Taguchi & Theodor Friedrich, 2018. "Sustainable Weed Management for Conservation Agriculture: Options for Smallholder Farmers," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-20, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:8:y:2018:i:8:p:118-:d:161180
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bhagat, R. M. & Bhuiyan, S. I. & Moody, K., 1996. "Water, tillage and weed interactions in lowland tropical rice: a review," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 165-184, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Raymond Mugandani & Paramu Mafongoya, 2021. "The 5As: assessing access to animal-drawn conservation agriculture planting equipment by smallholder farmers," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 4881-4898, April.
    2. Chepkoech, Winifred & Stöber, Silke & Kurgat, Barnabas K. & Bett, Hillary K. & Mungai, Nancy W. & Lotze-Campen, Hermann, 2023. "What drives diversity in climate change adaptation strategies for African indigenous vegetable production in Kenya?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 716-728.
    3. Jun Fan & Sichuan Luo & Attachai Jintrawet & Xingming Fan & Ruijia Guo, 2022. "A Framework of Development-Oriented Poverty Alleviation Implementation Projects in Rural China: The Case of Jinggu County," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Yigezu A. Yigezu & Tamer El‐Shater, 2021. "Socio‐economic impacts of zero and reduced tillage in wheat fields of the Moroccan drylands," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(4), pages 645-663, July.
    5. Abdul Waheed & Chuang Li & Murad Muhammad & Mushtaq Ahmad & Khalid Ali Khan & Hamed A. Ghramh & Zhongwei Wang & Daoyuan Zhang, 2023. "Sustainable Potato Growth under Straw Mulching Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Anna Kocira & Mariola Staniak & Marzena Tomaszewska & Rafał Kornas & Jacek Cymerman & Katarzyna Panasiewicz & Halina Lipińska, 2020. "Legume Cover Crops as One of the Elements of Strategic Weed Management and Soil Quality Improvement. A Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-41, September.
    7. Tibugari, Handsen & Chiduza, Cornelius & Mashingaidze, AB & Mabasa, S, 2022. "Reduced atrazine doses combined with sorghum aqueous extracts inhibit emergence and growth of weeds," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 22(03).

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