SOME POSSIBILITIES OF POST-DRILLING MECHANICAL WEED CONTROL

Up until half a century ago, inter-row weed control was carried out by hand and animal drawn implements.
In motorized agriculture mechanical inter-row weed control was largely replaced by chemical weed control.

Herbicides contribute 20% to the total use of active matter in biocides, and 40% of the total costs of biocides in The Netherlands.
Nowadays there is a widespread consensus, that the use of herbicides should be reduced to a minimum, as stated in the "Long-range Plan on Crop Protection".

• Reduction of the structural dependence on chemicals;

• Systematic reduction of the use of chemicals to 50% (in the year 2000) and a reduction of nematicides to 10–20% of the amount used in 1988.

Symposium on Engineering as a Tool to reduce Pesticide Consumption and Operator Hazards in Horticulture

J.K. Kouwenhoven

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.372.30