Sustainable alternatives to chemicals for weed control in the orchard - a Review
Md Jebu Mia, F. Massetani, G. Murri, Davide Neri
Abstract
Chemical herbicides have dominated traditional weed-management approaches in most perennial fruit orchards. The use of various chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides in fruit orchards might improve fruit yield, but this has been achieved at enormous costs to orchard biodiversity and soil and human health. Some herbicides have been shown to be detrimental to ecosystem health and sustainability Further problems have followed too, such as soil acidification Some studies have reported that chemical herbicides can substantially decrease the num-ber of microbial communities (Grossbard, Davies 1976) and the earthworm population Soil biodiversity has an important role in efficient root functioning, as has been demonstrated for monocultures, where monospecific organic residues can disrupt root behaviour for several species (Endeshaw et al. 2015a, b; Polverigiani et al. 2018a, b). Thus, the persistent use of chemical herbicides and soil tillage can result in an impoverished soil quality, as well as decreased plant biodi-