Weeds are simply the wrong plants in the wrong place at the wrong time; they pose critical challenges on farms around the world. There are roughly 30,000 species of weeds that compete with crops for water, light, and nutrients in your fields—and this competition can be costly.
In the case of weeds, one third of the yield would be lost without proper weed control, and weed seeds can contaminate the quality of the harvested crop.
Farmers have multiple methods consisting of chemical and non-chemical weed management practices and tools available to them. Each of these tools matter, and by combining those, farmers are incredibly effective at protecting both their crops and the environment.
Through our Integrated Weed Management program, Bayer has advocated for many years to reduce an overreliance on a single weed control method—such as just a single mode of action in chemical weed control—and promote a variation of weed management strategies. Our Integrated Weed Management programs are designed as tailored agronomic solutions build to show farmers that "It Pays Off" to take a holistic approach to weed management through diversified tactics like crop rotation, cover crop planting, utilizing multiple modes of action, and other cultural and mechanical practices such as harvest weed seed control (HWSC).
Staying ahead: it pays off
Incorporating a combination of weed management measures helps to sustain weed control systems over time and maintain a farm's ability to provide productive harvest while protecting the soil.
As weed control will remain a formidable challenge, Bayer raises the bar and commits to invest around €5 billion between 2020 and 2030 in additional and integrated weed management methods to manage the weeds that can be the biggest impediment to raising a healthy crop. This investment will be dedicated to new weed management solutions from chemical to non-chemical tools, including digital advancements and agronomic support like:
- Improving the understanding of resistance mechanisms
- Discovering and developing new, resistance-breaking modes of action in addition to further developing tailored IWM solutions and recommendations through digital farming tools and insights
- Enhancing partnerships with weed scientists around the world to help tailor customized solutions to farmers at the local level
