Скачать или смотреть How Long Can I Wait to Weed my Carrots?

Emma Kubinski, Master's Program 1st Year, Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montana State University

Advisor: Dr. Fabian Menalled, Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montana State University

How Long Can I Wait to Weed my Carrots? Assessing the Critical Period of Weed Control to optimize yield, quality, and economic returns

Our presentation will focus on a preliminary study carried out at the Montana State University Townes Harvest Garden that sought to define the critical weed free period of organic carrots in Montana. With the intense labor demand of weed management in carrots coupled with the farm labor shortage in the United States (Zahniser et al. 2018), it is imperative to limit time weeding carrots. A key concept to base weed management on is the critical weed-free period of your crop which is the time that your crop must remain weed free to prevent yield loss (Swanton & Weise 1991). Current literature on weed-free period in carrots focuses on conventional systems with the use of herbicides, making this information irrelevant to organic growers. To our knowledge, little research has been conducted on weed management in organic carrots. To address this knowledge gap, we began to assess the critical period of weed control in organic carrots.

This research and education project aimed to define the critical period of weed control of organic carrots in the Northern Great Plains. Results will help to enable organic carrot producers to make informed weed management decisions based on their economic goals and labor availability. Our project examined the effect of timing of weed removal and weed pressure on yields, sugar content, marketability, labor demand, and economic return. The project will serve as an educational opportunity for producers in understanding the importance of a critical period of weed control and guide their weed management decision in organic carrots.