Knowledge, science, and practice in ecological weed management: farmer–extensionist–scientist interactions - Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds - page 113

Figure 3.2 Relation ofthe complexity ofweed management decisions to the need
for adaptive management approaches and to returns from
farmer-extensionist-scientist collaboration.(After Coutts,1994 ,p.7.)
increasing ecological, social, and economic complexities that confront pro-
grams for the improvement of on-farm weed management.
Three approaches to farmer management of weed
patchiness and uncertainty
Three contrasting approaches for practical adaptive weed manage-
ment can be identified: precision agriculture,mechanized ecological cropping
systems, and ecological cropping systems with hand tools and manual labor
and occasional animal power for soil preparation. As the brief descriptions
below demonstrate, these three approaches diverge in level of input use, field