Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet
Against the backdrop of increasing herbicide resistance and societal and political objectives for reducing plant protection products, combinations of mechanical and herbicide weed control methods are gaining importance. In row crops such as sugar beet, the use of mechanical hoeing between crop rows...
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MDPI AG
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/4/879 |
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| author | Jakob Berg Helmut Ring Heinz Bernhardt |
| author_facet | Jakob Berg Helmut Ring Heinz Bernhardt |
| author_sort | Jakob Berg |
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| description | Against the backdrop of increasing herbicide resistance and societal and political objectives for reducing plant protection products, combinations of mechanical and herbicide weed control methods are gaining importance. In row crops such as sugar beet, the use of mechanical hoeing between crop rows (interrow) combined with band spraying of herbicides within rows (intrarow) can lead to significant herbicide savings compared to standard broadcast herbicide applications. However, effective weed control remains crucial. In this study, a two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate different combinations of band spraying, mechanical hoeing, and broadcast spraying in post-emergence weed control applications in sugar beet. The weed control efficacy of each treatment was assessed relative to an untreated control using weed counting to determine absolute weed density and image analysis to quantify weed cover. Compared to the untreated control, total weed control efficiencies of up to 90.8% (weed counting) and 99.5% (image analysis) were achieved. In comparison to three consecutive broadcast herbicide applications, the mechanical–chemical combinations resulted in a similar or even superior weed control efficacy while enabling herbicide reductions of up to 65.59%. These results highlight the valuable potential of mechanical–chemical weed control combinations for herbicide-reduced weed management within post-emergence application systems in sugar beet. They represent a key tool in the context of integrated weed management (IWM). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dbea977a85bb423eb8edd4e9d04fd124 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj-art-dbea977a85bb423eb8edd4e9d04fd1242025-08-20T02:17:21ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952025-03-0115487910.3390/agronomy15040879Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar BeetJakob Berg0Helmut Ring1Heinz Bernhardt2Agricultural Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Dürnast 10, 85354 Freising, GermanyVerband Bayerischer Zuckerrübenanbauer e.V., Sandstraße 4, 93092 Barbing, GermanyAgricultural Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Dürnast 10, 85354 Freising, GermanyAgainst the backdrop of increasing herbicide resistance and societal and political objectives for reducing plant protection products, combinations of mechanical and herbicide weed control methods are gaining importance. In row crops such as sugar beet, the use of mechanical hoeing between crop rows (interrow) combined with band spraying of herbicides within rows (intrarow) can lead to significant herbicide savings compared to standard broadcast herbicide applications. However, effective weed control remains crucial. In this study, a two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate different combinations of band spraying, mechanical hoeing, and broadcast spraying in post-emergence weed control applications in sugar beet. The weed control efficacy of each treatment was assessed relative to an untreated control using weed counting to determine absolute weed density and image analysis to quantify weed cover. Compared to the untreated control, total weed control efficiencies of up to 90.8% (weed counting) and 99.5% (image analysis) were achieved. In comparison to three consecutive broadcast herbicide applications, the mechanical–chemical combinations resulted in a similar or even superior weed control efficacy while enabling herbicide reductions of up to 65.59%. These results highlight the valuable potential of mechanical–chemical weed control combinations for herbicide-reduced weed management within post-emergence application systems in sugar beet. They represent a key tool in the context of integrated weed management (IWM).https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/4/879sustainableweed controlmechanicalherbicideweed countingweed cover |
| spellingShingle | Jakob Berg Helmut Ring Heinz Bernhardt Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet Agronomy sustainable weed control mechanical herbicide weed counting weed cover |
| title | Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet |
| title_full | Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet |
| title_fullStr | Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet |
| title_short | Combined Mechanical–Chemical Weed Control Methods in Post-Emergence Strategy Result in High Weed Control Efficacy in Sugar Beet |
| title_sort | combined mechanical chemical weed control methods in post emergence strategy result in high weed control efficacy in sugar beet |
| topic | sustainable weed control mechanical herbicide weed counting weed cover |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/4/879 |
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