Julius-Kühn-Archiv (Feb 2014)

DSSHerbicide: Herbicide field trials in winter wheat. What is the good of this?

  • de Mol, Friederike,
  • Fritzsche, Robert,
  • Gerowitt, Bärbel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5073/jka.2014.443.046
Journal volume & issue
no. 443
pp. 360 – 368

Abstract

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To choose herbicides and their optimal dosages is a great challenge in chemical weed control in arable crops, because the choice of possible herbicide mixtures is big and economic consequences are hardly estimated. DSSHerbicide is a computer aided decision support system calculating cost-saving weed control measures. It is adapted to German conditions from the Danish Crop Protection Online system with German herbicide and weed data. To test the prototype of the system, fourteen herbicide trials were installed at conventional winter weed fields with differing weed densities in 2011 and 2012. Apart from the herbicide selection of DSSHerbicide recommendations from private advisers, official advisory service and farmers were implemented as test variables. The different ways of decision-making were investigated with the parameters chosen herbicides, herbicide costs, treatment frequency index, weeds left after treatments and wheat yield. Neither in herbicide costs, nor in treatment frequency index nor in yield significant differences between the decision support system on the one side and the expert advices on the other side were found. Biomass of weeds after treatments was significantly higher in the DSSHerbicide plots than in the plots of the official advisory service. In tendency, but not significantly, this led to higher yields in the plots of the official advisory service. Variation in herbicide costs and treatment frequency indices between the field trials was highest in the DSSHerbicide plots. A higher correlation of weed density before control and herbicide costs in the DSSHerbicide plots than in the expert plots indicates a field specific herbicide advice by the DSSHerbicide. The prototype worked with a limited number of implemented herbicides. Since herbicide advices of the decision support system were robust over the fourteen field trials, it will be worth implementing more herbicides in the system.

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