• How to control weeds ?

The control of weeds can be rationalized by the grower according to his production objectives. Weed management includes several control methods, for example by using mechanical weeding, spreading herbicides at different periods of the crop cycle or by introducing cover plants in the crop rotation.

Weed control does not represent a problem so far as one has sufficient labour to weed manually by uprooting, hoeing or cutting with a machete. However, the increase in the area of the fields and the absence of a fallow period lead to situations where the weed gets out of control.

The initiation of a weed management strategy is a complex decision-taking process which depends on :

  • the state of weediness (weed species, development reached),
  • the crop (pure or associated),
  • the cultural practises,
  • the constraints of the crop calendar,
  • the condition of the surface of the field (type of soil, mode of working the soil, humidity),
  • the weather conditions,
  • the available equipment,
  • the economical aspects (profitability of the crop, funds available),
  • the availability of herbicides.

Two types of methods are used:

  • Indirect methods (soil preparation, crop rotation, ...)
  • Direct methods (chemical control through spraying herbicides, mechanical control, ...)

Return to the page "Weed science: everything about weeds"


  • Indirect control methods : how to prevent weediness ?

    • Indirect control methods make it possible to prevent the invasion of plots by weeds. These methods use techniques that minimize the proliferation of unwanted plants.

  • Mechanical control : to know more about weeding methods


  • Chemical control : what must be known about herbicides?

    • The use of herbicides reduces the workload of mechanical or manual weeding since one herbicide spraying needs less than a day per hectare, thus facilitating the organization of the cultivation calendar. Furthermore, used at the right moment, herbicides eliminate weed competition. Several criteria characterize the different types of herbicides.

  • Chemical control : the place of herbicides in the weed control

    • There are three main groups of herbicides : pre-emergence herbicides, post-emergence herbicides and broad-based herbicides.

  • Chemical control : how to be successful in herbicide spraying

    • To be successful in an herbicide spraying depends on a certain number of precautions :