Integrated weed management: <i>Quo vadis</i>?

Abstract

The different components of Integrated Weed Management (IWM), such as crop selection, crop husbandry, plant nutrition, crop protection, farm hygiene, and the site‐specific conditions, all are factors having an influence on the successful adoption of the basic IWM concept. Farmers’ field activities, directly or indirectly, affect germination and development of weeds as well as weed population dynamics. However, also important non‐agronomic parameters indirectly affect weed management. They include farm structure, farmers’ personal targets and preferences, the provision and communication of technical know‐how, economics, but also demands from society and in the area of ecology. In the light of the many additional important influences and interactions, rather than thinking in terms of IWM, it seems appropriate to view crop production as a whole process, probably best defined as Integrated Crop Management (ICM). Boiling down the mass of information and outlining a rational, straightforward, easy‐to‐apply and cheap approach for the site‐specific weed management is needed for the successful implementation of IWM principles within the framework of ICM.