Biological capabilities of weeds and interference with normal crop development and production
In natural areas or even in cultivated areas the high density of certain weed populations and the staggered emergence, which allows them to emerge earlier or in synchrony with the crop, gives them a certain competitive advantage, generally, weeds have great vigor and rapid growth, since they accumulate carbohydrates in the vegetative structures (rhizomes, stolons, tubers).
▶ These biological abilities of weeds allow them to grow rapidly and interfere with the normal development and production of crops. Some authors consider that the degree of interference of weeds in crops depends on the edaphoclimatic factors of the area where the crop is established, the cultivated species, botanical characteristics, taxonomy, genotype, population density, agronomic management and the period in which they compete with each other for a greater uptake of light and nutrients.
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In addition, the critical period of interference of weeds for a given crop is determined by the similarities or morphological and physiological differences that give them a great competitiveness, the C4 metabolism of many weeds that gives them a greater photosynthetic efficiency and, consequently, they can grow rapidly in conditions of high temperatures and good lighting.
On the other hand, the presence of weeds in cultivated soils demands large investments to reduce their influence, which is evidenced by the high proportion of herbicides in the world agrochemical market. While the period prior to interference is a period of time from sowing or emergence.
Even when the crop can coexist with the weed community without suffering negative effects on its productivity. The longer the period of coexistence of the crop with the weeds, when both compete for the resources of the environment, the greater the degree of interference, which significantly harms the crop.
We can conclude that the intensity of competition in artificial or agricultural areas is normally assessed by decreases in production and/or reduction of growth of cultivated plants, in response to the increasing competition for the resources available in the environment, in this case carbon dioxide, water, light and nutrients.
NOTE: Reference material.
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As people study various biomes, I suspect they will find that there is often symbiotic relations between different plants, bugs and microbes and that the best path forward is trying to remove entities with negative affects on the crop and encouraging those with positive effects on the crop.
For example, clover fixes nitrogen which often helps other plants.
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Certainly there are symbiotic relationships that must be respected; there are even plants that, in addition to generating favorable conditions for the assimilation of nitrogen or other elements, also create a microclimate that favors the development of crops.
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So in essence, it is advised to uproot weeds before planting a crop? I'm not really cleared on that
Yes, the most advisable thing to do is to pull the larger weeds, i.e. those that may interfere with a greater absorption of nutrients, space, water and light. Now those small weeds should not be eliminated because they maintain controlled soil moisture conditions and an adequate micro and macro biological activity that favors crops.
Wow. Okay. I usually pull everything not knowing the small weeds are useful 😂 thanks for the info @agrovision
Looking at weed, it often seems like they do not need much nutrient to grow. I always fight hard to clear the weed in my farm because they seem to grow faster than expected and if care isn't taken, they could outgrow the crop