By Christina Szalinski
Vegetable and row-crop growers have long struggled to control weeds in the narrow band around crops, where cultivation tools can damage the crop as easily as the weeds. New research from Cornell AgriTech found that stacking multiple cultivation implements in a single pass can substantially improve weed control in that zone without sacrificing the crop. By adding GPS guidance, switching to gentler tools and moving implements farther from plants, researchers achieved stronger weed control in snap beans and beets with no significant loss of well-established crops. Because many of the implements can be added to existing cultivators, the approach may be practical for a wide range of operations.
For farmers, weeds are a relentless problem, and the ones that sprout right next to the crop are the hardest to manage. New research from Cornell AgriTech shows that farmers may be able to gain better control of those stubborn in-row weeds by stacking multiple cultivation tools in a single pass without sacrificing their crop.
Mechanical cultivation is one of agriculture's oldest weed-management practices. Metal implements are pulled through the soil behind a tractor to uproot, cut and bury weeds.
"It's relatively easy to control the weeds between the crop rows," said Bryan Brown, lead researcher on the study and an Integrated Weed Management specialist with Cornell Integrated Pest Management. "But it gets challenging when you're trying to work closer to the crop because you obviously don't want to damage the crop."
Source : cornell.edu