ISHS Acta Horticulturae 406: II IFAC/ISHS Workshop :Mathematical & Control Applications in Agriculture & Horticulture
MODELLING WEED CONTROL UNDER SPATIALLY SELECTIVE SPRAYING |
| Authors: | W. Day, M.E.R. Paice, E. Audsley |
| Abstract:
A simulation study based on a mathematical model of the life cycle of an annual grass weed in a cereal crop is used to evaluate the potential benefit from spraying only those patches of the field that contain significant weed populations. The effect on weed control of varying the distance over which weed seeds are dispersed each season is evaluated by adding dispersal factors to a simpler model. The model is applied to an initial weed generated by the probabilistic action of uniform herbicide and weed germination alone over a period often years. With dispersal distances typical of the natural shedding of grass seeds, the cost benefit of patch spraying in subsequent years is not greatly affected. However with greater dispersal the benefits are rapidly lost. In practice the observed bimodal nature of natural weed patchiness is likely to have an additional major effect in increasing the benefit from patch spraying. | |
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