The aim of research
To assess the impact of reduction of herbicide use on crop yield, weed density and species composition in a diverse crop rotation, as well as the potential impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

The tasks of project:

To carry out an environmental impact assessment and economic evaluation of reduction of the number of herbicide applications and mechanical weed control in different tillage psystems (mouldboard ploughing, minimum tillage, no-till)
To measure emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)
To analyse the changes in the soil weed seed bank in different treatments
To develop a remote sensing method of weed cover determination (data acquisition and analysis) using UAV-acquired images

Results

Initial findings have demonstrated a positive correlation between the size of the weed seed and bud bank and the resulting weed biomass in the field. Another focus of the project is the development of a reliable method for detecting weed cover using UAV-captured imagery, which can be applied in cereals and other crops. A significant aspect of the research also involves monitoring greenhouse gas emissions before and after all weed control treatments to ensure that the proposed alternative solutions align with the broader goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.

Alternative herbicide control methods

Print