When adverse conditions exist, weeds compete with the crop for each of these elements causing negative effects on growth and production; the greatest competition between weeds and crop generally occurs when the competing species are similar in their vegetative habits, reproduction methods and environmental demands.
▶ It is worth noting that the period of maximum interference or critical period is that in which management practices should be carried out so that the plant expresses its productive potential at a lower cost to the producer.
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Knowledge of the critical period of arvense competition with the crop is of great importance when defining control periods and/or rationalizing the use of herbicides. In weed control studies with herbicides, it is essential to know the duration of the period in which the weed competes with the crop.
In order to make a rational use of herbicides as well as to correlate these results with the possible residual effect of the chemicals used.
However, in order to achieve effective control, it is necessary to know the crop and the time of interference of the plants associated with the competition with the crop.
This problem of weed interference leads to the need for research to determine the critical periods of maximum interference, in order to establish the appropriate times for agronomic management.
NOTE: Reference material.