Special Issue "Innovative and Effective Weed Management for Sustainable Cropping Systems"
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Weed Science and Weed Management".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2023 | Viewed by 2805
Special Issue Editor
Interests: integrated weed management; seed germination; weed emergence; herbicide resistance; mechanical weed control; sustainable agriculture; organic farming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In order to address the growing demand for agricultural products, weed management strategies in sustainable cropping systems should maintain the high control efficacy that is required to ensure high yields while minimizing environmental impacts. Several concurrent issues, such as the spread of herbicide-resistant biotypes and invasive species or the limited availability of new herbicides, are hindering this challenging task. Smart combinations, tailored to the different cropping systems, of both traditional and innovative control tactics seem the only feasible approach to achieve this ambitious goal.
This Special Issue will collect original articles and reviews aimed at evaluating the efficacy and improving the implementation of traditional or innovative weed control tools and tactics. Specific topics could include but are not limited to precision herbicide spraying, weed detection, mechanical and physical control, cover crops, bioherbicides, or harvest weed seed control. Studies testing combinations of diversified tactics will be appreciated. Articles describing multi-year experiments for the evaluation or implementation of innovative control tactics under real field conditions are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Donato Loddo
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- weeds
- precision herbicide spraying
- mechanical control
- physical control
- cover crops
- bioherbicides
- harvest weed seed control
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: The uptake of integrated weed management by farmers. Insight in decision making of farmers concerning their weed management strategy on their farm.
Authors: Marjolein Elings; Marleen Riemens; Veronica Pedraza Jimenez; Mette Sønderskov; Anne Brunet; Sabine Gennai-Schott; Richard Hull; Camilla Moonen; Robert Leskovšek; Paul Tuteirihia
Affiliation: Scientist Green Care Business Unit Agrosystems Research; Wageningen University & Research
Wageningen; The Netherlands
Abstract: Integrated weed management (IWM) involves complex risk management decisions. IWM comprises preventive, curative and direct control measures that requires decisions on crop choice and sequence, intercropping, fertilisation, cultivation type and frequency. IWM can therefore not been seen as a set of weed control tactics alone; it is a complex system approach in which many different risks and benefits need to be balanced. Current decision support systems and extension work for IWM often focus on pure economics. They assume that farmers will use economic rationality when they evaluate trade-offs between weed management strategies. In the EU-funded HORIZON project IWMPRAISE, research has been conducted to understand the end-user’s drivers for decision making, barriers to uptake new knowledge and perceptions of IWM in general. By using the mental model approach and qualitative research methodologies better understanding of the knowledge, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes that underlie weed management decisions of farmers is developed. In addition, these insights were compared with the knowledge, beliefs and perceptions of experts in the field. The results show that farmers have different perceptions and make different decisions in IWM on their farms than how experts view IWM. This gap may explain why farmers are less likely to adopt IWM practices on their farm. Communication can be an important tool in informing farmers about IWM. The research shows that farmers base their knowledge of IWM in particular on communication with peers and farm advisors. These communication sources could play a more important role in highlighting the potential of IWM to farmers in the future.
