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This article explores the potential benefits of weeds in agricultural ecosystems and introduces the concept of "service weeds" that can provide ecosystem services without harming crops. It highlights the importance of quantifying and enhancing these services and proposes a five-step approach to integrating weeds into agricultural practices. The document emphasizes the need for collaboration with farmers and stakeholders, as well as training and technical support. It acknowledges the challenges associated with promoting weeds as ecosystem service providers but suggests that further research and policy initiatives are needed to explore their potential. The document also provides a list of references from various scientific articles on related topics, offering diverse perspectives for library patrons conducting research. [Extracted from the article]

Recently, there has been growing interest in the use of summer cover crops that can be grown during summer fallow periods of crop rotation. This study evaluates the potential of sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.), velvetbean [Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.] and cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.]. as three annual legumes summer cover crops. The main objective of this review was to conduct global research comparing these summer cover crops to investigate the benefits, challenges, and trade-offs among ecosystems services when implementing these summer cover crops. In European agriculture, there are three main windows in crop rotation when these summer legumes can be grown: Around mid-spring after winter fallow, early summer after harvest of a winter crop, and mid- to late summer after harvest of an early-season crop. All three legumes can suppress weeds while they are actively growing. After termination, their mulch can create unfavorable conditions for weed emergence. Sunn hemp and velvetbean cover crops can cause a reduction in weed biomass of more than 50%. In addition to their ability to suppress weeds, sunn hemp, velvetbean, and cowpea provide a variety of ecosystem services, such as improving soil health, quality, and fertility, controlling pests, and sequestering carbon. The review highlights their promising role in weed suppression and their contribution to sustainable agricultural practices. However, further research is needed to evaluate their performance in weed management and their environmental impact in field trials under different soil-climatic conditions, as cover cropping is an effective practice but highly context-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable crop and weed management is among the crucial challenges in the era of the EU Green Deal. The main objective of the present study was to apply an innovative approach for the rapid assessment of herbicide efficacy in maize (Zea mays) crop in four different trials during two years. Weed NDVI values were recorded at two weeks after treatment, while weed biomass and crop yield were also measured. The results revealed significant differences between the several treatments. In many cases, significant effects of herbicide application on the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values and weed biomass were noticed at two weeks after treatment. Moreover, the mixture nicosulfuron + rimsulfuron + mesotrione resulted in high efficacy on the crop yield of all fields. Consequently, our approach can allow for an early prediction of the real field efficacy of several herbicides and thus act as an alert for the farmers in order to choose the most efficient herbicide, avoid applications of low efficacy and reduce the herbicide inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for organically grown products is increasing because many people are concerned about the environment and believe that organic products are healthier than conventional ones. Some studies have shown that organically produced tomato fruits contain higher levels of antioxidants, polyphenols and carotenoids than those produced conventionally. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of organic and inorganic fertilization on agronomic and quality characteristics of the processing tomato. The 2-year experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design, with three replications and three fertilization treatments (untreated, compost and inorganic fertilizer). The results showed that the highest fruit number per plant (98.5), average fruit weight (63.6 g) and fruit yield (168.0 t ha−1) were obtained under inorganic fertilization. The highest total soluble solids (4.39 °Brix) and total soluble solids to titratable acidity ratio (17.4), L* (43.4) and a* (35.4) values, as well as the highest lycopene content (88.5 mg kg−1 f.w). were achieved through the application of organic fertilizer. Significantly higher total soluble solids and total soluble solids to titratable acidity ratio in organically grown tomatoes are particularly important to the processing tomato industry. Finally, the highest lycopene content produced under organic fertilization as well as the non-significant difference between the organic and conventional tomatoes in terms of lycopene yield make organic processing tomatoes suitable for lycopene production.

Intercropping cereals with legumes is a widely used agronomic practice to improve forage yield and quality in forage cropping systems. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the potential of a false seedbed to reduce weed pressure in intercrops and monocultures of annual ryegrass and berseem clover during the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 growing seasons in western Greece. A split-plot randomized complete block design with four replications was set up. Seedbed manipulations assigned to the main plots included: normal seedbed preparation (NSB) and seeding, and two different false seedbeds. In the first (FSB 1) and second false seedbeds (FSB 2), weeds were controlled by shallow tillage at 1 and 2 weeks, respectively, after the first tillage and immediately before crop sowing. Forages were subplots of berseem clover (BCM) and annual ryegrass monocultures (ARM) and three intercrops with BCM:ARM ratios of 75:25 (ARBC 1), 50:50 (ARBC 2), and 25:75 (ARBC 3). FSB 1 reduced weed biomass by 27% and 34% compared to NSB in 2020–2021 and 2021–2022, respectively (p ≤ 0.001). FSB 2 improved forage yield by 9% and 14% in 2020–2021 and 2021–2022, respectively, compared to FSB 1. Compared to NSB, FSB 2 also increased forage yield by 11% in 2020–2021 and 17% in 2021–2022. Berseem clover biomass was higher in FSB 2 than in NSB main plots in both years. In the first harvest, ARBC 3 was the most weed-suppressive intercrop, which also provided the highest forage yield in both the first and second harvests of both years, followed by ARM and ARBC 2. In the second harvest, forage yield was 11% and 12% higher in ARBC 3 subplots than in ARBC 1 and BCM subplots, respectively. Similar results were obtained for cumulative forage yield from two harvests. Further research is needed to evaluate other alternative practices for agroecological weed management in low-input forage production systems in the Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the qualification of hemp as a multipurpose crop has resulted in a renewed interest globally. A two-year field study was conducted to determine the differences in yield performance and N response of three hemp cultivars. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replicates, three main plots (cultivars: ʽFelina 32᾽, ʽSanhtica 27᾽, ʽFutura 75᾽) and sub-plots (N fertilization treatments: control, 180 kg ha−1, 240 kg ha−1). At harvest time, inflorescence traits, seed, biomass yields and N concentrations were recorded. N use efficiency indicators, seed density and inflorescence fertility indexes were determined. The results indicated that all measurement traits, fertility indexes, N contents, N utilization and apparent recovery efficiencies were influenced by N fertilization. Yields, N concentrations and N content amounts both for biomass and seed in higher N rate were significantly increased up to 46%, 33%, 18%, 26%, 56% and 54% respectively, as compared to control. 'Futura 75ʹ was more efficient in N utilization for biomass production than 'Felina 32ʹ which had higher translocation efficiency. Seed density index positively correlated with seed yield, N content and N harvest index and can be proposed as a useful trait in selecting high yielding hemp cultivars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]