Engineering and Environmental Support for Weed Control

Abstract

Better fi eld operations are performed result in lower weed contamination of crops, which means less chemical protection is required. This makes a positive eff ect on soil fertility, crop quality and the ecological situation in general. (Research purpose) To study weed circulation in mechanized farm technologies for cereal production and propose ways of reducing the weed content at all stages of cultivation, taking into account the favorable environmental response of the agricultural background. (Materials and methods) The authors have revealed the fundamental criteria for the implementation of fi eld operations based on a multifactorial model of crop cultivation: reduction of the weed content, reduction of soil compaction sites and re-processing, and environmenta response. They have demonstrated weed circulation in traditional cereal production technologies, identifi ed the development dynamics of weeds and their distribution in the agricultural background. (Results and discussion) The authors controlled weed seeds on spring wheat fi elds under production conditions during the harvest seasons of 2016 and 2017. They experimentally found an increased content of miliary weed seeds in the selected threshing products, the mass of which ranged from 5 to 16 grams per m2. The share of weed seeds in grain hopper amounted to 2.9 percent. It was revealed that weed seeds isolated by a combine remain viable after autumn tillage. Transverse tillage increases the area of contamination in 2 times or more. The authors propose a comprehensive system of weed control at all stages of fi eld operations, taking into account the environmental response of the agricultural background. It is shown that the separation and destruction of weed seeds at the harvest stage is of particular importance. The authors present technical and technological solutions to reduce weeds and ensure a favorable ecological situation. (Conclusions) The authors have designed a comprehensive system to reduce weed contamination, thus reducing the overall impact of plant protection remedies by 30 percent.

Keywords

• weeds
• application of plant protection means
• fi eld operations
• harvester-thresher
• separation and breaches in weed seeds
• environmental response