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Rewarding weeds in arable farming – traits, goals and concepts

Summary
From an agrarian perspective the occurrence of weeds on arable land is predominantly associated with negative side effects: competition for light and nutrients, hampering of the harvest, or reduction of crop quality. On the other hand weeds can also be associated with quite a number of positive side effects. They can contribute to the conservation of abiotic resources and promote beneficial insects. Beside of their ecological values weeds also gain growing importance as genetic resources for the breeding of economic plants. Furthermore, due to an exceptional flowering aspect weeds possess special scenicaesthetical values. Thus, despite of their harmful short and long term effects on crops, there is reason to maintain weed species diversity. Currently arable weeds do not gain much attention in agri-evironmental schemes in Germany. Most conservation concepts have a local, mainly museal character. The success of conservation measures is determined by factors of economic-ecological efficiency, practicability and acceptance. A result-oriented rewarding of arable weeds promises improvements of all three factors. However, it is a critical trait of arable weeds to be simultaneously objective of conservation and of control measures, which should be minimised due to their costs, as well as abiotic and biotic side effects.

german version

Keywords/Stichworte:Weeds; wild plants; agri-environmental concept; result-oriented rewarding

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Autor:ANNIKA HÖFT, BÄRBEL GEROWITT, Institute for Land Use – Crop Health – Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Satower Str. 48, 18051 Rostock, e-mail: annika.hoeft@uni-rostock.de; baerbel.gerowitt@uni-rostock.de

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