Weeds !!!
Think the main obstacle to the wider use of this very Australian pragmatic technique is the belief that any plant (weed) apart from the crop plant will steal its water and nutrients. A decent academic study might help end that misconception.
Meanwhile, am surprised at the minimal response this method has received, the slideshow dates back to 2015 and there is 1 comment, a silly ad.
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Yes, Weeds are just colonizer species. Any land that is growing weeds is land that needs it. They can be essential to salvaging nutrients that would otherwise 'end up in China' (a rather fun saying from my childhood of where things would end up if they fell down holes and through the earth from here and reemerged on the opposite side of the globe
..... leached nutrients that rely upon deep rooted vegetation to recycle them back to the topsoil to avoid desertifying soil trends.
Chemically killing weeds is madness that is destroying the land and having adverse effects on the ecosystem's and our health.
I have personally seen Peter Andrews physically demonstrate that weeds are no issue at all by pulling up random clumps of grass and weeds side by side - the grass far from being starved was actually being fed by the weed and had a healthy root system dwarfing the weeds. The weeds roots on the other hand were withered, and it had just about served it's purpose in the regeneration cycle. Note, that Peter's land actually was hydrated by NSF, regenerating and building soil by the foot, as opposed to other differently managed parts of the country in decline. Letting weeds grow is an essential part of the holistic whole.
I am not sure how the research papers are progressing in this area. I have seen enough with my own eyes (multiple earthworms curled up in the shelter of weed root systems and shade - Patterson's curse - which is no good for stock and hence mercilessly sprayed, which is a shame as from chemical free areas it makes beautiful honey). It's a non-issue .... honestly things are that dire just get on with it while the research proves you right a decade from now. There is enough extension programme and ad-hoc evidence out there already to prove it, along with the commensurate increases in soil carbon.
I have posted short YouTube demonstrations by Peter on Weeds in this thread. (I will dig up the post number later).
A lot of the kill any weed that grows brigade are just unaware of these exceedingly simple facts - instead deferring to the 'more knowlegeable' , 'scientifically advanced' big business players - unwittingly becoming a captive to the ongoing 'relationship' of the corporate model and destroying the land in the process.
Apart from this there is the very real need to have agricultural product free from contamination (other vegetative matter, non-productive seeds such as weed seeds, prior different crops etc). This is indeed a very real driver of chemical use too, apart from the perceived and real effects on crop growth of 'weed' presence. There are non-chemical means of dealing with these issues - slashing, mulching, devices such as the Harrington Weed Destructor etc.
http://www.ihsd.com/
Industrial agriculture the world over is ridiculously 'pro-chemical' and 'anti-weed'. It is big multi-billion $ business to 'own' the whole 'agriculture production system' from GM and other patented seeds to the purpose designed chemical systems involved in their production. There has been quite some M&A activity in this area (how some of it passed regulators I have no idea)
https://www.gmwatch.org/en/articles...worlds-top-10-pesticide-firms-who-owns-nature
https://www.investopedia.com/articl...6/top-5-pesticide-companies-world-syt-dow.asp
I haven't followed the investment scene in this arena but given the mounting evidence of pest/insect/herbicide use and insect decline linked to ecosystem decline, I have to wonder at the long term viability and valuations of these business models. Analogous to future investment in fossil fuels, there is just no future in it.
[EDIT]:
Peter Andrews on weeds (excellent short video from post#10)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qjlia4DjgKg
Managing Weeds as Cover Crops (excellent article from post#64)
https://worldagriculturesolutions.c...ivvt5TFB-NpK3IFJs7Q2jfGsPUk7qcNET3IjfmABH2hBA
Chosun :gh: