A compendium of crop varietal tolerance to weeds

Abstract

Genetic improvements in crop tolerance to diseases, insects, and other stresses have reduced or eliminated applications of pesticides and other inputs for many crops. However, little work has been done to examine the potential for increasing levels of tolerance to weeds, even though herbicides account for 69% of the pesticides used in the United States eachyear. This paper documents thatfor all 21 crops examined, varieties differ in their tolerance of non-parasitic weeds. Characteristics influencing varietal tolerance to weeds are summarized.