Herbicide Resistance
Increasing resistance to herbicides, coupled with a lack of new types of herbicides, has the potential to reduce crop yields. The UK Government’s commitment to increase yields over the next 25 years will require the development of alternative crop protection methods. This POSTnote outlines the challenges of herbicide resistance and reviews the possible approaches to long-term weed control strategies.
Agriculture and environmentCommon Agricultural PolicyPollution
Briefing
Key points in this POSTnote include:
- Agricultural crop yields are reduced when unwanted plants (weeds) compete with crops. Synthetic herbicides are widely used to control weeds.
- A wide variety of weeds have shown resistance to a range of herbicides, which reduces chemical control options.
- The EU regulates the use of herbicides. Changes to the regulations in 2009 have reduced control options further.
- More diverse management strategies that include non-chemical methods, such as spring cropping, may help conserve the effectiveness of herbicides and contribute to reducing resistant weed numbers.
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