Derivation of a Cropping System Transfer Function for Weed Management: Part 1 – Herbicide Weed Management

Abstract

System behaviour is described by the transfer functions, which relate the system’s output to one or more input variables. No-till cropping systems depend on herbicide inputs for weed management and crop yield optimisation. This paper derives the transfer function for crop yield potential as a function of herbicide input, in the presence of herbicide resistance in the weed population, using several mathematical components for crop and weed ecology from published literature. The resulting transfer function reveals the herbicide application rate for optimal crop yield potential and highlights the growing herbicide resistance problem in no-till cropping systems.