Multispecies resistance and integrated management: a bioeconomic model for integrated management of rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum)

Abstract

Rigid ryegrass and wild radish dominate and coexist throughout southern Australian dryland cropping regions. Widespread herbicide resistance in these species has led to adoption of diverse and complex integrated weed management practices, which require evaluation of their impact on farming systems. Therefore, a multispecies version of the bioeconomic model resistance and integrated management (RIM) has been developed to compare long-term economic and weed population outcomes of various integrated management scenarios. We have extended the original single-species ryegrass RIM model to include wild radish biology and additional weed management practices used to control this species. The multispecies model can be used to evaluate weed management scenarios for coexisting herbicide-resistant species by investigating the implications of different crop–pasture rotational sequences and of varying herbicide availability. Multispecies RIM shows that economic differences between the scenarios are not due to differences in weed densities but to differences in total weed control costs.