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Volunteer plants – those that grow from seed shed by the previous crop – are weeds that bring the same problems as wild ones, or worse.
Volunteers can form a ‘green bridge’ from one crop to the next carrying insect pests and fungal diseases. Volunteers reduce yields and quality, and hinder crop management. They can be difficult to control, especially if they are growing in a new crop of the same species.
Options for controlling volunteers before planting the next crop can be particularly limited if they carry a herbicide tolerance trait to glyphosate,...

Paraquat is an important tool in the armoury of Filipino farmers in their battle against weeds. Farming is one of the most important industries in the Philippines. More than one third of the country’s labor-force works on farms. Most farms are small, averaging only 2 ha in size, and farmers need to grow a variety of higher value crops in order to be profitable. This is where the agronomic and environmental properties of paraquat and its versatility are invaluable.
A recent survey of Filipino farmers and their use of paraquat has emphasised its economic benefits.
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Maize, or corn, provides staple food for much of the world’s population in developing countries where it is used to make porridge, bread and tortillas, and also the fast-foods of western society - breakfast cereals, sweet corn and popcorn. All around the world, maize grain is a basic livestock feed, and the crop can be cut while still green to make silage as a winter feed. Also, over recent years maize has been increasingly used as a feedstock for the production of bioethanol.
Paraquat is a versatile and important herbicide for weed control in maize. It can be applied from...

Paraquat’s distinctive behaviour in soil means that farmers around the world confidently use it to protect their crops. Paraquat provides fast broad-spectrum weed control only through foliar contact action. There is no crop damage via the roots or any effect on seed germination. Soil fauna and microorganisms are not affected and there is no leaching or run-off from the degrading paraquat residues reaching the soil.
A new in-depth feature article added to the Knowledge Bank explains the fate of paraquat in soil and what the implications are for the environment and paraquat...

Cotton is one of the world’s major crops and particularly important to the economies of many developing countries. Cotton itself is a fibre which protects the seed of the cotton plant, much as the flesh of an apple protects the pips. So, fruit are not only for eating. The crop has been at the forefront of the revolution in biotechnology, being the second genetically modified (GM) crop to be introduced in broadacre agriculture after soybeans in 1997.
One of the main traits in GM cotton is tolerance to applications of the non-selective herbicide glyphosate. The choice of...

The introduction of glyphosate tolerant (GT) crops has been the one of the most significant technological changes in agriculture, along with mechanization and hybrid seed breeding. Farmers around the world are reaping the benefits of a simplified weed control system, saving costs, time and labor and increasing operational flexibility. Adoption has been rapid, particularly in the Americas. In the most important soybean growing US states, Brazil and Argentina around 90% of crops are GT. Globally 148 million ha were sown to GM crops across 29 countries in 2010 of which close to 90 million...

Rice is the staple food for more than half the world. In Asia alone, more than two billion people obtain over 60% of their calories from rice. In developing countries nearly one billion people find employment associated with rice in the food chain. It is the most rapidly growing source of food in Africa and is critical to food security.
Protecting rice from weeds, pests and diseases is essential to avoiding heavy losses in yield. Weed control is usually most important. Paraquat is used to prepare the land for cultivating rice and on the bunds (levies) which surround paddy fields...

Controlling weeds in potatoes is a problem for many farmers. Paraquat is a very useful herbicide for potatoes because it can be used to burndown weeds from before planting right up to the point at which the potato sprouts start to emerge from the soil¹. This allows for weed control measures to be tailored to the weeds present. As potatoes may take up to four weeks to emerge, significant weed growth may have occurred after planting. Weeds can quickly overrun potato crops if they are allowed to grow unchecked before the crop leaf canopy closes².
They compete...

Oil palm is the world’s leading vegetable oil crop. As a foodstuff, palm oil is believed to have several important benefits, particularly in lowering the risk of heart disease. As a very high yielding crop, it has become a major feedstock for biodiesel production. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has been established to ensure that as production rises environmental issues such as biodiversity and soil erosion are addressed. Integrated pest management (IPM) approaches are widely used and ensure that crops are protected in a sustainable way.
Paraquat has a key role in...