About the project

The project is led by Dr. Björn Ringselle,
Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE)

Weeds must be managed to avoid crop losses, but today's large use of herbicides and tillage is problematic from both an environmental and production perspective.

However, good alternatives are rare, which means that systems that do not use herbicides (e.g. organic farming) often have to use intensive tillage, and those that prohibit or restrict tillage (e.g. conservation agriculture (CA), regenerative agriculture) usually have to use a lot of herbicides.

Perennial weeds are particularly problematic from this perspective. The aim of the project is to develop integrated strategies that reduce both herbicides and tillage and improve soil health for Swedish farmers with a focus on CA, regenerative agriculture and ploughless organic farming.

The strategies will, among other things, integrate the newly developed root cutters that are effective at controlling perennial weeds with low soil disturbance – and can be used in cover crops and grassland.

• Objectives

  To develop integrated weed management (IWM) strategies that reduce both the use of herbicides and tillage, as well as improve soil health, with relevance for reduced tillage systems such as conservation agriculture (CA), regenerative agriculture (RA), and ploughless organic farming (PLOF).

  Goals

  • 1. Develop a system where the horizontal root cutter (HRC) and the vertical root cutter (VRC) are integrated with cover crops, herbicides and shallow tillage within CA/RA/PLOF.
  • 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of spot-applying HRC on perennial weed patches in leys and pastures.
  • 3. Evaluate the effect of HRC on perennial weed species not previously studied (e.g., Tussilago farfara [coltsfoot], Silene latifolia [white campion), Senecio jacobaea [ragwort], Rumex spp. [docks], Taraxacum officinale [dandelion]).
  • 4. Evaluate the economic cost-benefits of integrating HRC on example farms using CA, RA, or PLOF.
• Participants

  NMBU participants

  External participants

  Dr. Björn Ringselle (Project leader), RISE
  Prof. Göran Bergkvist, SLU
  Dr. Kirsten S. Tørresen, NIBIO
  MSc. Per-Anders Algerbro, RISE
  Josef Appel, Appel Agri Consulting AB
  Philip Hedeng, Heagårds Egendom AB