Udk 633.11:632.954 Evaluating Herbicides in a Range of Doses for Integrated Plant Protection in Latvia

Weed management must be based on integrated plant protection methods that minimise economically unacceptable loss of crop yield but preserve the contribution of weeds to biodiversity. The on-line decision support system “Weeds” has been developed to assist in achieving this balance by the selection of appropriate herbicides and the calculation of appropriate doses to control the weeds present in individual fields. The results of field trials in spring wheat in Latvia in 2006 and 2007 showed that satisfactory weed control could be achieved and increases of yield obtained where herbicides were applied at reduced doses. Economic analyses showed that the reduced dose treatments were the most profitable.