Dear Colleagues,

Weeds are one of the major constraints in crop production in agroecosystems, competing with crops for nutrients and water and negatively affecting both quality and crop yields. It has been estimated that crop losses induced by weeds average almost 34% of the world’s agricultural output, and the use of synthetic herbicides, which are easy to apply and accessible to farmers, is the most common method of weed management.

Nevertheless, concerns are now being expressed worldwide about the environmental impact and effects of the widespread use of chemical herbicides on human health and the environment.

Moreover, repeated use of the same herbicides with similar modes of action on weed populations significantly increases the inherited ability of a plant to survive, developing weed biotypes which are resistant to the main chemicals used.

Against this backdrop, producers, the agrochemical industry, and researchers are shifting their attention to alternative weed control strategies based on the use of natural and natural-like compounds. These specialized metabolites are potentially less toxic, could have a new mode of action, and may interact with weeds affecting new target sites or more than one target site while reducing the potential development of weed resistance.

Therefore, natural or natural-like molecules could represent a valid alternative strategy for weed management in the framework of sustainable agriculture and integrated weed management. Further, the diversity of molecular structures from living sources should provide novel chemical skeletons or templates that are unlikely to be produced by traditional herbicide synthesis programs.

Therefore, this Special Issue deals with the use of specialized metabolites produced by different living organisms to isolate and identify new candidates to produce novel bioherbicides with new modes of action and low toxicity for the environment and human health. The Special Issue is mainly focused on, but not restricted to:

- Allelopathy;

- Isolation and identification of natural compounds from plants with biological activity against weeds;

- Identification of the target and mode of action of pure natural molecules and/or mixtures on weed/pest physiology and metabolism;

- Use of natural products as repellent/attractive agents against parasitic weeds (e.g., Cuscuta sp., Orobanche sp., Striga sp., etc.);

- Use of allelopathic crops in crop rotation;

- Use of essential oils for weed management

- Synthesis of ecofriendly natural-like compounds with biological activity against weeds;

- New formulations for weed management

Dr. Fabrizio Araniti
Dr. Adela M. Sánchez Moreiras
Dr. Mercedes Verdeguer
Guest Editors

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• sustainable agriculture
• integrated weed management
• secondary metabolites
• natural compounds as elicitors
• allelopathy
• essential oils in crop protection
• allelopathic crops
• bioherbicides
• phytotoxins
• natural herbicides
• biological control
• omics
• mode of action