Chapter 1: What is a Weed? Why Do We Care?
1.6 Summary
The first concept we discussed in this chapter is that weeds are plants which are somehow interfering, directly or indirectly, with what we’re trying to accomplish on our agricultural lands and crops, including livestock production. The cost to manage crop weed related challenges is high, in the billions of US dollars. In upcoming chapters we will discuss in more detail how to identify various weeds, as well as explore strategies for sustained long-term weed management in field crop systems based on research findings.
Key Takeaways
Key takeaways from this chapter include:
- A weed is a plant out of place, an unwanted plant, a plant that contributes to economic losses, or one whose virtues have not yet been discovered.
- Weeds negatively impact crop quality and reduce optimal crop yields.
- Weeds lead to both direct and indirect costs to farmers and others.