| At present, weeds and pest insects are two of the major constraints to the production of high quality organic vegetable crops, primarily because the range of control measures available to UK growers is extremely limited. Several studies have shown that the numbers of pest insects found on crop plants are reduced considerably when the crops are allowed to become weedy. However, if weeds are not removed by a certain stage of crop growth, they start to compete with the crop plants and yield begins to decline. Warwick HRI already has models that are used independently to predict both the onset of weed competition and the timing of pest insect attacks. However, in practice, growers have to manage weeds and pest insects at the same time and hence the decisions... |
