Weeds in an era of reduced herbicide dependence. Ecological mechanisms and social challenges for a sustainable crop production

Weeds can both threaten and enhance crop production, but overreliance on herbicides and simplified cropping systems has led to reduced weed diversity and the proliferation of a few destructive weeds.

With European Union’s (EU) Farm-to-Fork strategy, aiming to reduce pesticide use by 50%, herbicides may be the most challenging pesticide to cut back on.

Despite evidence suggesting that weed diversity can ensure crop production while facilitating weed regulation by beneficial organisms, no such work has tested this hypothesis.

This project seeks to address this gap by advancing the knowledge of the impact weeds have on crop yield and whether weed diversity and weed seed predation, as ecological alternatives for weed control, can mitigate weed-related yield losses. It also assesses the acceptance of those ecological alternatives to weed control among farmers.

By identifying synergies between agronomic, societal, and conservation goals, this project aims to be at the forefront of weed regulation and put to test to what extent ecological alternatives can reduce dependence on herbicides toward a new era that favors sustainable crop production. For a visual summary of the project, please refer to the graphical abstract in Fig.1 in the Appendix.