Forums
New posts
Forum list
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New resources
Latest activity
Trending Threads
Resources
Latest reviews
Search resources
FarmTV
Farm Compare
Search
Tokens/Searches
Calendar
Upcoming Events
Members
Registered members
Current visitors
New Resources
New posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Forum list
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Navigation
Install the app
Install
More options
Contact us
Close Menu
Forums
Agricultural Media
News, PR, Shows and Events
The threat of weeds now greater than at any time in human history
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Agriland RSS" data-source="post: 7491751" data-attributes="member: 105608"><p><img src="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.thefarmingforum.co.uk/images/agrilanduk.JPG" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Written by Agriland Team</p><p></p><p>Using data from the world’s longest-running experiment – the Rothamsted Research Broadbalk wheat trial in Hertfordshire in the UK – the researchers found that, on plots where herbicides have never been used, yield losses to the threat of weeds have been consistently increasing since the 1960s.</p><p></p><p>Less than a third of the harvest was lost to weeds in the first ten years of the dataset, but between 2005 and 2014, this had risen to more than half.</p><p></p><p>The team from Rothamsted Research who carried out the study, say this is due to weed burdens doing better than crops in a warming climate, coupled with a shift towards shorter crop varieties that get shaded out by the taller weeds.</p><p></p><p>And just like our crops, many weed species have also benefited over this period from increased use of nitrogen fertilisers.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Herbicide resistance</strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p>In addition, more than half a century of consistent chemical spraying has also led to the rise of herbicide resistant weeds, threatening our ability to protect the gains in crop productivity achieved since the 1960s.</p><p></p><p>Lead author, Dr. Jonathan Storkey, said:</p><p></p><p>“Crops are now more vulnerable to weed infestations than before the advent of herbicides, according to a new study which says weeds pose an unprecedented threat to our food security.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“If we compare yield lost to weeds in the first ten years of the dataset, weeds ‘robbed’, on average, 32% of the yield compared to 54% in the last ten years of data.</p><p></p><p>“Our results demonstrate that weeds now represent a greater inherent threat to crop production than before the advent of herbicides, and integrated, sustainable solutions to weed management are urgently needed to protect the high yield potential of modern crop varieties,” he added.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Higher rates of N</strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p>Alongside the ever-increasing losses to weeds, the analysis of data showed that weeds also reduced wheat yields proportionally more on plots with higher rates of nitrogen fertiliser.</p><p></p><p><strong>On comparable plots where weeds were controlled with chemicals, higher wheat yields were achieved when more nitrogen fertiliser was added – meaning that herbicides are most beneficial on the highest yielding wheat fields.</strong></p><p></p><p>Modern crop varieties with high fertiliser inputs are, therefore, more vulnerable to higher yield losses if herbicide resistance becomes a greater problem.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Broadbalk experiment</strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Broadbalk winter wheat trials were established in 1843 to contrast different amounts and combinations of inorganic fertilisers compared with farmyard manure on wheat yields.</p><p></p><p>Since the mid-1960s, some plots have had herbicides applied and some have not.</p><p></p><p><strong>The team looked at data from 1969 onwards – around the start of the so-called ‘Green Revolution’ when higher-yielding wheat cultivars, and increased nitrogen fertiliser use became the norm worldwide.</strong></p><p></p><p>However, as their data clearly demonstrates, these increased global yields were only made possible with a concurrent increase in the use of pesticides.</p><p></p><p>A total of 41 weed species were recorded in the plots, with farmers’ main nemesis – blackgrass – being an ever present – and especially abundant on plots with high fertiliser rates.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Shorter crop varieties</strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p>In addition to the rise of herbicide resistance, the adoption of shorter crop varieties – favoured for putting more nutrients into the grain and not the stem – has also led to increased yield losses, as the diminutive plants are often out-competed by much taller weeds.</p><p></p><p>Dr. Storkey added:</p><p></p><p>“Moving forward, it is likely that plant breeders will need to consider traits that reduce yield losses from weeds as well as those that optimise yield potential.”</p><p></p><p>The final factor responsible for the increase in weed pressure is climate change. Between 1969 and 2014, average air temperatures measured at the meteorological site local to the Broadbalk experiment have risen consistently.</p><p></p><p>Calculated over the main growing season for UK weeds, average temperatures have steadily increased and are now approximately 2°C higher than they were in 1969. As the growth of the weeds responds more to warming temperatures than the crop, this has given the weeds a competitive advantage.</p><p></p><p>Dr. Storkey continued:</p><p></p><p> “Management and climate change have combined over the past 45 years to increase the threat from weeds.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“Our results highlight the need to diversify weed control strategies by complementing herbicides with non-chemical options including increasing crop competition and disrupting weed life cycles using fallows or more diverse cropping rotations,” he concluded.</p><p></p><p>The post <a href="https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/the-threat-of-weeds-now-greater-than-at-any-time-in-human-history/" target="_blank">The threat of weeds now greater than at any time in human history</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.agriland.co.uk" target="_blank">Agriland.co.uk</a>.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/the-threat-of-weeds-now-greater-than-at-any-time-in-human-history/" target="_blank">Continue reading on the Agriland Website...</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Agriland RSS, post: 7491751, member: 105608"] [img]https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.thefarmingforum.co.uk/images/agrilanduk.JPG[/img] Written by Agriland Team Using data from the world’s longest-running experiment – the Rothamsted Research Broadbalk wheat trial in Hertfordshire in the UK – the researchers found that, on plots where herbicides have never been used, yield losses to the threat of weeds have been consistently increasing since the 1960s. Less than a third of the harvest was lost to weeds in the first ten years of the dataset, but between 2005 and 2014, this had risen to more than half. The team from Rothamsted Research who carried out the study, say this is due to weed burdens doing better than crops in a warming climate, coupled with a shift towards shorter crop varieties that get shaded out by the taller weeds. And just like our crops, many weed species have also benefited over this period from increased use of nitrogen fertilisers. [SIZE=5][B]Herbicide resistance[/B][/SIZE] In addition, more than half a century of consistent chemical spraying has also led to the rise of herbicide resistant weeds, threatening our ability to protect the gains in crop productivity achieved since the 1960s. Lead author, Dr. Jonathan Storkey, said: “Crops are now more vulnerable to weed infestations than before the advent of herbicides, according to a new study which says weeds pose an unprecedented threat to our food security. “If we compare yield lost to weeds in the first ten years of the dataset, weeds ‘robbed’, on average, 32% of the yield compared to 54% in the last ten years of data. “Our results demonstrate that weeds now represent a greater inherent threat to crop production than before the advent of herbicides, and integrated, sustainable solutions to weed management are urgently needed to protect the high yield potential of modern crop varieties,” he added. [SIZE=5][B]Higher rates of N[/B][/SIZE] Alongside the ever-increasing losses to weeds, the analysis of data showed that weeds also reduced wheat yields proportionally more on plots with higher rates of nitrogen fertiliser. [B]On comparable plots where weeds were controlled with chemicals, higher wheat yields were achieved when more nitrogen fertiliser was added – meaning that herbicides are most beneficial on the highest yielding wheat fields.[/B] Modern crop varieties with high fertiliser inputs are, therefore, more vulnerable to higher yield losses if herbicide resistance becomes a greater problem. [SIZE=5][B]Broadbalk experiment[/B][/SIZE] The Broadbalk winter wheat trials were established in 1843 to contrast different amounts and combinations of inorganic fertilisers compared with farmyard manure on wheat yields. Since the mid-1960s, some plots have had herbicides applied and some have not. [B]The team looked at data from 1969 onwards – around the start of the so-called ‘Green Revolution’ when higher-yielding wheat cultivars, and increased nitrogen fertiliser use became the norm worldwide.[/B] However, as their data clearly demonstrates, these increased global yields were only made possible with a concurrent increase in the use of pesticides. A total of 41 weed species were recorded in the plots, with farmers’ main nemesis – blackgrass – being an ever present – and especially abundant on plots with high fertiliser rates. [SIZE=5][B]Shorter crop varieties[/B][/SIZE] In addition to the rise of herbicide resistance, the adoption of shorter crop varieties – favoured for putting more nutrients into the grain and not the stem – has also led to increased yield losses, as the diminutive plants are often out-competed by much taller weeds. Dr. Storkey added: “Moving forward, it is likely that plant breeders will need to consider traits that reduce yield losses from weeds as well as those that optimise yield potential.” The final factor responsible for the increase in weed pressure is climate change. Between 1969 and 2014, average air temperatures measured at the meteorological site local to the Broadbalk experiment have risen consistently. Calculated over the main growing season for UK weeds, average temperatures have steadily increased and are now approximately 2°C higher than they were in 1969. As the growth of the weeds responds more to warming temperatures than the crop, this has given the weeds a competitive advantage. Dr. Storkey continued: “Management and climate change have combined over the past 45 years to increase the threat from weeds. “Our results highlight the need to diversify weed control strategies by complementing herbicides with non-chemical options including increasing crop competition and disrupting weed life cycles using fallows or more diverse cropping rotations,” he concluded. The post [URL='https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/the-threat-of-weeds-now-greater-than-at-any-time-in-human-history/']The threat of weeds now greater than at any time in human history[/URL] appeared first on [URL='https://www.agriland.co.uk']Agriland.co.uk[/URL]. [url="https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/the-threat-of-weeds-now-greater-than-at-any-time-in-human-history/"]Continue reading on the Agriland Website...[/url] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Agricultural Media
News, PR, Shows and Events
The threat of weeds now greater than at any time in human history
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top