Throughout her PhD program, Margaret McCollough has investigated a variety of non-chemical control tactics targeting weeds in the crop row. Due to their close proximity to crop plants, the management of intra-row weeds is essential to limit yield losses resulting from competition; however, the effective control of intra-row weeds is also difficult because of the crop’s presence. Research topics investigated include: (i) depletion of the weed seedbank for reduced emergence, (ii) manipulation of crop density and spatial arrangement for increased suppression, (iii) targeted placement of fertilizer for improved crop growth and impaired weed growth, and (iv) the optimization of robot-assisted intra-row hoeing and flame weeding.

The PhD study was completed at Department of Agroecology, Crop Health Section, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Thursday, 3 November 2022 at 3:00 PM
Place: To be announced
Title of PhD thesis: Non-chemical weed management strategies for controlling intra-row weeds

Contact information: Margaret McCollough, e-mail: margaret.mccollough@agro.au.dk, tel.: +1 (207) 413-0407

Members of the assessment committee:

Associate Professor Christian Andreasen, Department of Pant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Professor Daniel Brainard, Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, United States

Senior Researcher Henrik Skovgård (chair), Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark

Main supervisor:

Associate Professor Bo Melander, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark

Co-supervisor:
Senior Researcher Peter Sørensen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark

Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.
The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Jens Baggesens Vej 53, building 5221, 8200 Aarhus N.