Bhagirath Chauhan – författare

Non-Chemical Weed Control is the first book to present an overview of plant crop protection against non-food plants using non-chemical means. Plants growing wild-particularly unwanted plants found in cultivated ground to the exclusion of the desired crop-have been treated with herbicides and chemical treatments in the past. As concern over environmental, food and consumer safety increases, research has turned to alternatives, including the use of cover crops, thermal treatments and biotechnology to reduce and eliminate unwanted plants. This book provides insight into existing and emerging alternative crop protection methods and includes lessons learned from past methodologies.

As crop production resources decline while consumer concerns over safety increase, the effective control of weeds is imperative to insure the maximum possible levels of soil, sunlight and nutrients reach the crop plants.

Weeds are the main biological constraint to crop production throughout the year. Uncontrolled weeds could cause 100% yield loss. In Australia, the overall cost of weeds to Australian grain growers was estimated at AU$ 3.3 billion annually. In terms of yield losses, weeds amounted to 2.7 million tonnes of grains at a national level. In the USA, weeds cost US$ 33 billion in lost crop production annually. In India, these costs were estimated to be much higher (US$ 11 billion). These studies from different economies suggest that weeds cause substantial yield and economic loss.

Biology and Management of Problematic Weed Species details the biology of key weed species, providing vital information on seed germination and production, as well as factors affecting weed growth. These species include Chenopodium album, Chloris truncata and C. virgate, Conyza bonariensis and C. canadensis, Cyperus rotundus, and many more. This information is crucial for researchers and growers to develop integrated weed management (IWM) strategies.

Written by leading experts across the globe, this book is an essential read to plant biologists and ecologists, crop scientists, and students and researchers interested in weed science.