ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF WEED CONTROL METHODS IN WINTER WHEAT CULTIVATION ON LARGE-SCALE FARMS

Abstract

In modern agriculture, on large-scale farms using monoculture, reduced tillage and intense chemical protection, the phenomenon of herbicide resistance in weeds is the cause of ecological and economic losses. More and more attempts are made to answer the question about the profitability of reducing agrotechnical treatments and intensifying chemical methods of weed control with a simultaneous intensification of the problem of herbicide resistance in weeds occurring in winter wheat crops, which dominates the structure of cereal sowing in Poland. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the costs of weed control for winter wheat cultivation on large-scale farms where there was no problem of weed resistance and on farms where resistant biotypes were identified. The research was based on a survey conducted among owners of farms cultivating winter wheat in 2019. The collected data were elaborated using basic methods of descriptive statistics and economic analysis. Based on the research results, it was found that with an increase in the area of farms, reduced tillage and monoculture are used more frequently than conventional tillage and crop rotation. At the same time, the commonly used chemical weed control methods are more frequently applied than mechanical ones. Economic efficiency indicators for winter wheat protection against weeds indicate a decrease in this efficiency with an increase in farm size. This is because the larger the farms, the more frequently the occurrence of resistant weed biotypes, which was confirmed by laboratory tests, and farmers more often assumed that such a problem occurred on their farms