Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Potato (
Solanum tuberosum
)
Ian C. Burke
1
* and Wesley J. Everman
2
1
Department of Crop and Soil Science, Washington State University,
Pullman, USA;
2
Department of Crop Science, North Carolina
State University, Raleigh, USA
Weed management is critical for profitable
potato production. Most growers utilize inte-
grated management strategies that include
cultural, mechanical, and chemical inputs to
protect the crop from yield loss due to weeds. In
1992, the total cost of weed management in-
puts in conventional potato production were es-
timated at US$89 million (Bridges, 1992).
Losses may have diminished in the past
30
years,
but are now estimated conservatively at approxi-
mately US$54.8 million annually in the USA
(not including tillage costs) (NASS, 2010).
Losses from weeds on a worldwide basis are esti-
mated to be an average of 8.3% of the 517.7 Mt
of production (Oerke, 2006). The potential loss
due to weeds exceeds that of any other pest of
potato, becoming an equivalent loss of approxi-
mately 35% (Oerke, 2006).
Yellow and purple nutsedge can become
troublesome weeds in potato production areas
rotated with vegetable crops; concerns are less-
ened where potatoes are rotated with agronomic
crops. Grass weeds, such as barnyardgrass (
Echi-
nochloa crus-galli
), foxtail (
Setaria
spp.), and
quackgrass (
Elytrigea repens
) can also be trouble-
some in potato production.
13.2
Integrated Weed Management
Integrated weed management is essential for po-
tato production. Multiple tactics should be com-
bined to form an integrated weed (or pest) man-
agement program. Integrated weed management
can be divided into three phases: seedbank man-
agement, minimization of seedling establish-
ment, and reduction of weed-crop interference
(Gallandt
et al
., 1998; Godfrey and Haviland,
2003).
Effective integrated weed management in-
corporates many factors including weeds pre-
sent, soil properties and amendments, tillage,
crop rotation, and chemical weed control. Inte-
grating mechanical and chemical weed man-
agement inputs in potato production has long
been a common practice. However, as prac-
ticed, mechanical and chemical inputs tend to
13.1
Common and Troublesome
Weeds in Potato
Troublesome weeds in potatoes consist primarily
of broadleaf weed species, with the most pre-
dominant weeds being those in the nightshade
(
Solanum
spp.) complex, common lambsquarters
(
Chenopodium album
), and pigweed species (
Ama-
ranthus
spp.) (
Table 13.1
)
.
