Weed Control in Organic Agriculture

Abstract

Organic agriculture as a production system based on ecological production, soil biological activity, biodiversity conservation and use of natural substances and processes is the only certified food production in Serbia. This system provides users of organic products with a guarantee that the end product is the result of consistent farming practices. Since 2010, three laws and a number of regulations underlying the development of this food production system have been adopted. The global organic market has seen a continuous rise in demand for organic products, whereas a relatively slight increase in their supply from organic crop growing areas of Serbia has been recorded. Reasons for the insufficient farmers' interest in organic agriculture include lack of information, lack of intermediate goods, fear of change and, very often, underestimation by conventional producers and professional agrarian circles. An important part of the mosaic-like fear of organic farming among producers is lack of knowledge regarding weed control methods in this production concept. As with other elements of organic farming practices, the basis for weed control rests on preventive action, as well as on direct methods of eliminating undesirable plants from agricultural biotopes.

Organska poljoprivreda kao proizvodni sistem baziran ne ekološkoj proizvodnji, biološkoj aktivnosti zemljišta, očuvanju biodiverziteta, uz primenu prirodnih suspstanci i postupaka, jedina je sertifikovana proizvodnja hrane u Srbiji. Korisnicima organskih proizvoda se garantuje da je finalni proizvod rezultat dosledno sprovedene tehnologije gajenja. Od 2010 godine, usvojena su tri zakona i niz pravilnika, koji su osnov za razvoj ovog sistema proizvodnje hrane. Na svetskom tržištu organskih proizvoda, kontinuirano raste potražnja, dok je povećanje ponude ovih proizvoda iz agrosinuzija Srbije, u relativno blagom porastu. Razlozi nedovoljnog interesovanja proizvođača za bavljenje organskom poljoprivredom su neobaveštenost, nedostatak repro materijala, strah od promena i veoma često omalovažavanje od strane konvencionalnih proizvođača i stručne agrarne javnosti. Jedan od važnih elemenata u mozaiku kreiranja straha od organske poljoprivrede među proizvođačima je i nepoznavanje načina suzbijanja korova u ovom proizvodnom konceptu. Kao i u drugim elementima tehnologije gajenja, osnova suzbijanja korova jesu preventivne mere, ali postoje i direktni načini eliminisanja nepoželjnih biljaka iz agrobiotopa.