Experimental methods for crop-weed competition studies

The annual global economic loss caused by weeds has been estimated at more than 100 billion U.S. dollars (Appleby et al. 2000). Additionally, worldwide annual herbicide sales are in the range of U.S. 25 billion (Agrow 2003). In light of these large dollar figures, it becomes clear that a greater understanding of crop-weed interactions is essential in order to develop cost-effective and sustainable weed management practices.