New directions for integrated weed management: Modern technologies, tools and knowledge discovery

Abstract Weed science, as an integral part of agricultural production needs to evolve by moving away from its mono-disciplinary perspective at targeting weeds, sometimes a single species, through the overreliance on few single herbicide mechanisms of action. Herbicides remain a simple and cost-effective way to control weeds but they are rapidly losing their effectiveness due to evolution of herbicide resistance. Additionally, weed science has been left wanting for a strong theoretical foundation rooted in evolutionary and ecological disciplines therefore, there is a great need for a new weed management paradigm in modern agriculture based on ecological principles and nonconventional weed management approaches. The “many little hammers” concept and the “use of technological advancement” are two major integrated weed management components that are gaining momentum. Automated, robotic weed control is being rapidly developed, particularly for vegetable crops and organic agriculture. Cover crops and weed seed destruction techniques are becoming popular with growers. In the future, RNAi technology, gene editing and robotics will yield new tools for weed control. Agriculture is also moving into a new era of big data or “digital farming.” It will be interesting to see what new, unforeseen weed control solutions will be derived from this new farming approach that will allow more intelligent application and integration of weed management technologies. In an attempt to facilitate the suitability of these technologies into integrated weed management systems, this chapter reviews the strengths and weaknesses of these modern technologies and tools, and it highlights future research needs for each of these technologies.