Weeds in Diversified Cropping
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Protection, Diseases, Pests and Weeds".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 July 2021) | Viewed by 30077
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues
The aim of diversifying agricultural cropping is to move from crop monocultures on large areas to plant stands that are more diverse in space and time. The background for this goal is to improve the agro-ecological management of agricultural systems, to offer food and shelter for wildlife, and to serve public interests in a vital and colored, hence diversified, landscape.
The decisions of professional land users like farmers, gardeners, and wine-growers have impacts on vast areas of agricultural landscapes—their short- to medium-term decisions within the cropping system alter the contribution of each field, orchard, or vineyard to a diversified landscape.
Agriculturists have options in the choice of cropped plants. Cash crops include all plants managed by land users and cropped for commercial output. Ecosystem services on cropped areas include the provision of flowers and seeds, the offer of shelter, the interim storage of nutrients, and the prevention of erosion. Cash crops and plants cropped for ecosystem services rather than for harvest and export from the field can be mixed in stands, alternating in space or separated in central parts and surrounding strips.
This issue is dedicated to the role of weeds in cropping which is altered in one or several of these approaches to diversification.
Weeds, as spontaneous plants in cropped sites, can be both an integral part of the diversification strategy and a constraint for the management of the site. Agriculturists have contradictory feelings on weeds, valuing their free services but fearing their increase and future problems. The same counts for public interest in diversified cropping, valuing weeds as a benefit and add-on versus a sign of neglect.
The effects of weeds in diversified cropping needs better understanding, including environmental conditions and field management practices as they directly or indirectly impact diversification goals. Cropping system conditions, soil fertility, fertilization, irrigation, pest control, the possibility for the use of the crop, and the effects of weeds on following crops can be addressed. Studies from a producer, consumer, or public stakeholder perspective about perceptions, interest, and marketing of products from diversified cropping including weeds are most welcome.
This Special Issue focuses on the role of weeds in cropping. Crop stands are either diversified with other crops or with companion plants; both can be mixed on various spatial scales. Major emphasis is on the double-sided effect of weeds—pro biodiversity, con productivity. This issue will lead to studies embracing disciplines ranging from agronomy, horticulture, viticulture, botany, and ecology to landscape ecology and socio-economics. All types of articles, such as original research and reviews, are welcome.
Prof. Dr. Bärbel Gerowitt
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- companion plants
- ecosystem services
- intercropping
- mixed cropping wild plant mixtures
- marketing
- strip cropping
- weed management
- weed services
- weed damage
- trade-offs
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