The cost of hitting the herbicide resistance wall

摘要

The prospect of a serious herbicide resistance problem has often been referred to by agronomists and farmers as 'hitting the wall'. This is the point when the established selective-herbicide-dependent cropping system can continue no further. Researchat the University of Western Australia's, WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative has examined farmer perceptions of the 'resistance wall', asking questions such as: Are we them yet? Is it avoidable? Is it moveable? and, Is it costly? The study, based on a survey of 132 randomly-selected WA grain growers, found a generally high level of knowledge of herbicide resistance. This was not unexpected given that most growers had some herbicide resistance on their property, with resistance in ryegrass (including multiple resistance) to Group A and B herbicides being by far the most common form.