herbicide
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AI overview
A herbicide is a chemical substance used to kill unwanted plants, commonly called weeds, that grow in fields and other areas. It matters because it helps farmers and land managers control weeds that would otherwise compete with crops for water, nutrients, and sunlight.
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Article
32 sectionsContents
- History
- First herbicides
- Further discoveries
- Terminology
- Selectivity
- Non-selective herbicides
- Timing of application
- Method of application
- Persistence
- Mechanism of action
- WSSA and HRAC classification
- Use and application
- Misuse and misapplication
- Use politically, militarily, and in conflict
- Health and environmental effects
- Human health
- Ecological effects
- Aquatic life
- Bird populations
- Resistance
- Evolutionary insights
- Biochemistry of resistance
- Resistance management
- Approaches to treating resistant weeds
- Alternative herbicides
- Mixtures and sequences
- Natural herbicide
- Farming practices and resistance: a case study
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|A field after application of a herbicide thumb|Weeds controlled with herbicide
Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds. Selective herbicides control specific weed species while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed, while non-selective herbicides (sometimes called "total weed killers") kill plants indiscriminately. The combined effects of herbicides, nitrogen fertilizer, and improved cultivars has increased yields (per acre) of major crops by three to six times from 1900 to 2000.