Date of Award
December 2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
Committee Member
Matthew Cutulle
Committee Member
Rebecca Schmidt-Jeffris
Committee Member
Monica Farfan
Abstract
Weed management in organic agriculture is one of the greatest challenges farmers face and many rely heavily on mechanical tactics that are labor-intensive and negatively impact the environment. Although more complex, farmers could integrate various cultural, chemical, and biological weed management tools to potentially reduce the need for tillage. A weed management system that incorporates the use of cover crop mulch could suppress weeds and promote weed seed predation services by granivorous insects. Since cover crops decompose as the season progresses, precise applications of organic herbicides could extend weed management towards the end of the season. In our studies, we compare various cover crop mulch treatments to organic herbicide treatments to examine potential synergies between tools, as well as potential non-target effects of organic herbicides on beneficial insects and weed seed biocontrol. We also evaluate the herbicide efficacy of capric and caprylic acid (CCA) compared to conventional herbicides, weeds of different height and species, and at varying pH and concentration. We found that CCA is most effective on weeds <10cm and a lower water carrier pH can increase efficacy. Overall, our work has demonstrated that organic herbicides may be a viable supplemental tool with limited non-target effects, and that combined with other cultural and biological tools may enhance weed control and yield, while reducing soil-borne pathogen abundance and the need for tillage.
Recommended Citation
Lewis, Danielle Gray, "Better Together? Combining Cover Crop Mulches, Organic Herbicides, and Weed Seed Biological Control in Reduced-Tillage Crop Systems" (2019). All Theses. 3214.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/3214