Weed Aggressivity in Agronomic Crops

The quantity of herbicides applied in crops has disturbed environmentalists for many years and several environmental groups have voiced distress about the impact of herbicides on water quality, the food supply, and human health. These concerns are causing administrators, scientists, and farmers to search for farming practices and research programs that can effectively balance agri chemical usage with the protection of national resources, food supplies, and human health (Anonymous, 1989a; Anonymous, 1989b). Society will become more environmentally sensitive, and agricultural practices will become more environmentally friendly. Pesticides that cause unacceptable environmental damage or threaten health will be withdrawn. During the next 20 years many of today\u27s chemical pesticides will become obsolete. Certain environmentally friendly herbicides, like glyphosate, will still be used, often in combination with biotechnology, to replace less friendly herbicides (Schneiderman and Carpenter, 1990). Environmental pressures have led to a growing demand for an overall reduction in the use of pesticides and, in countries such as Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands, such a reduction has become formal government policy (Thomas, 1990). New research programs must be initiated that include on-farm studies of farming systems and the development of computer software and systems to aid farmers in the management and decision making needed to adopt alternative systems (Anonymous, 1989b)