Weeding in arable crops

Which method to use, which equipment to use,...

Weeding in field cropsWhich method to use, which equipment to use,...

Field crops / Weeding in arable crops

In large-scale crops, the control of weeds is a key parameter of the Economic and environmental performance of farms. This page portal lists the solutions and strategies for destroying weeds during crop growth, and presents their main principles.

Mechanical Weeding

The optimal use of mechanical weeding tools depends on various factors that should guide their choice: the type of crop and its growth stage, the weather conditions before and after intervention, the soil type, the weeds (annual grasses, annual dicotyledons, perennials) infesting the plot and their development stage. The practical page "Mechanical weeding" presents the different tools and details the selection criteria.

Open-field Weeding

Open-field mechanical weeding consists of using tools independently of the rows of crops, and is generally recommended for the seedling or juvenile stages of the crops. The tools mainly used are the spring tine harrow, the rotary hoe and the rotary harrow. It is often considered that the spring tine harrow is the most aggressive tool, and the most suitable for stony soils, whereas the use of the rotary hoe is adapted to a wider range of operating conditions.

Inter-row Weeding

The hoe is the most common inter-row weeding tool, and allows intervention at more advanced crop growth stages. It also enables the destruction of better-established weeds than open-field solutions, and is therefore suitable for later passes.

Chemical Weeding

As with mechanical weeding, chemical control of weeds can be reasoned according to the target or the crop stage. It is necessary to consider the mode of entry of the products used as well as their selectivity depending on the development stage of the crop in place and the nature of the weeds.

Moreover, the repeated use of the same products may lead to the selection of resistant flora. It is therefore recommended to associate or alternate chemical families to limit this phenomenon.

Other Alternatives

Mixed Weeding

Mixed weeding is a combination of chemical weeding and mechanical weeding throughout the rotation. The weed hoe, mainly used for corn cultivation, is the most common example of combining the two techniques in one pass. It would thus reduce herbicide consumption per hectare by two-thirds by combining localized chemical control on the row with inter-row hoeing.

Thermal Weeding

Thermal weeding is a developing alternative that consists of applying a thermal shock at a high temperature (by direct flame or infrared) for a very short exposure time (3 to 5 seconds). It causes the destruction of plant cells and is therefore more suitable for pre-sowing or seedling stage interventions.