Herbicide application has long been considered the most efficient weed control method in agricultural production worldwide. However, long-term use of agrochemicals has numerous negative effects on crops and the environment. Bearing in mind these negative impacts, the EU strategy for withdrawing many herbicides from use, and modern market demands for the production of healthy and safe food, there is a need for developing new effective, sustainable, and ecological weed control measures. To bring a fresh perspective on this topic, this paper aims to describe the most important non-chemical weed control strategies, including ecological integrated weed management (EIWM), limiting weed seed bank, site-specific weed management, mechanical weeding, mulching, crop competitiveness, intercropping, subsidiary crops, green manure, and bioherbicides.

In this work the results on the batch and column adsorption of copper and some associated ions by employing linden and poplar sawdust as a low-cost adsorbent are presented. The mine water from a local abandoned copper mine, as well as synthetic solutions of those ions which are the main constituents of the mine water were both used as a model-system in this study. The adsorption ability of the chosen sawdust to adsorb heavy metal ions is considered as a function of the initial pH of the solution and kind of metal ions. At lower pH of solutions the adsorption percentage (AD %) decreases leading to a zero AD % at pH < 1.1. Maximum AD % is achieved at 3.5 < pH < 5. It was found that poplar and linden sawdust have both almost equal adsorption capacities against copper ions. The highest AD % ( ?80%) was achieved for Cu2+, while for Fe2+ it was slightly above 10%. The other considered ions (Zn2+ and Mn2+) were within this interval. The results obtained in the batch mode were verified through the column test by using the real mine water originating from an acid mine drainage (AMD) of the copper mine 'Cerovo', RTB Bor. The breakthrough curves are presented as a function of the aqueous phase volume passed through the column allowing having an insight into the column adsorption features. Breakthrough points were determined for copper, manganese and zinc ions. A very high adsorption degree - higher than 99% was achieved in these experiments for all mentioned ions. After completing the adsorption, instead of desorption, the loaded sawdust was drained, dried and burned; the copper bearing ash was then leached with a controlled volume of sulphuric acid solution to concentrate copper therein. The obtained leach solution had the concentration of copper higher than 15 g dm-3 and the amount of H2SO4 high enough to serve as a supporting electrolyte suitable to be treated by the electrowinning for recovery of copper. The technology process based on the column adsorption is proposed and discussed.

Determining the critical time for weed removal (CTWR) is essential for the development of an integrated weed management plan. Therefore, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of two planting patterns (standard and twin-row) with and without PRE-applied herbicides on CTWR in corn. Experiments were laid out in a split-plot arrangement with two main plots: (i) standard row planting (SRP) that is 70 cm wide, and (ii) twin-row planting (TRP) with 50 cm distance between each set of double rows. Each main plot was divided into two sub-plots (with and without PRE herbicides). The sub-sub-plots consisted of seven weed removal timings for PRE herbicides, and tank mixes were utilized (S-metolachlor (1.44 kg a.i. ha⁻¹) + terbutylazine (0.75 kg a.i. ha⁻¹)). The CTWR without PRE herbicides was similar in both the SRP and TRP systems, where it was around the V1 to V2 (16 to 19 d after emergence (DAE)) growth stages. The use of PRE-applied herbicides delayed CTWR in SRP to the V4 to V10 (25 to 58 DAE) stages and up to the V11 (60 DAE) stage in TRP. These results clearly indicate that PRE herbicides are important for protecting corn yields regardless of the planting pattern. In more meteorologically favorable seasons (sufficient heat and precipitation) in both sowing systems, corn plants produce their biological maximum with the fact that over the number of plants per unit area (SRP = 80,000 plants ha⁻¹, TRP = 93,900 plants ha⁻¹) provide higher yields in variants with PRE herbicides, and thus the advantage of the TRP system can be justified.

Crop rotation is known as an eco-friendlier approach, as provides diversification in crop management systems, modifies intensive pressure on the agricultural ecosystem, utilizes various soil horizons, and prevents the establishment of specific pests and weeds. We set out here a study on the farms that have been managed over 50 years of specific continuous crop management programs. The experimental treatments were in a different management system: monoculture of maize, winter wheat, and soybean, 2-year crop rotation (winter wheat–maize) with and without chemical fertilizer, and 3-year crop rotation (winter wheat–soybean–maize) with and without chemical fertilizer and manure. We took soil samples six times from 2014 to 2017 prior to sowing and after harvesting each year. Weed seeds were extracted from soils and identified and counted by species. We, upon the data of a long term experiment of crop rotation, could conclude that crop rotations with more crops in the sequence are significantly effective in maintaining weed populations, a low-input crop production could reach a constant low population below an important damaging density, and therefore will be a more sustainable crop production while chemical fertilizers would change the soil’s chemical and structure and imbalance the plant population diversity and manures with high weed seed infestations have the potential to totally eradicate crop rotation effects, Therefore, clean manures or compost are highly recommended.

The use of Artemisia species’ plant extracts and essential oils, which are rich in bioactive compounds (allelochemicals), could support weed management. This study focused on the chemical analysis and evaluation of the allelopathic potential of plant extracts (PEs) and essential oils (EOs) of Artemisia absinthium and A. vulgaris on the germination and early seedling growth of weeds (Amaranthus retroflexus and Setaria viridis) in vitro. The plant extract from A. vulgaris showed higher antioxidant activity (IC₅₀ = 0.171 ± 0.01 mg/mL) and phenolic content than that from A. absinthium (IC₅₀ = 0.263 ± 0.01 mg/mL). Chlorogenic acid was the most abundant phenol in both extracts. However, A. absinthium contained a higher amount (1.694 ± 0.081 mg/g) and exhibited a stronger inhibitory effect on the germination of A. retroflexus (EC₅₀ = 0.54 ± 0.02%) and S. viridis (EC₅₀ = 1.51 ± 0.07%) compared to A. vulgaris. The dominant components of A. absinthium essential oil were β-thujone (18.9%), cis-ocimene epoxide (7.88%), and bicyclogermacrene (7.04%), while the main constituents of A. vulgaris essential oil included gurjunene (10.41%), cis-crysanthenyl acetate (7.17%), and γ-humulene (6.67%). The lowest EC₅₀ values for A. absinthium essential oil regarding seed germination and seedling length were estimated for S. viridis (0.28 ± 0.48% and 0.03 ± 0.00%, respectively), whereas A. retroflexus was the most sensitive to A. vulgaris essential oil (0.11 ± 0.04% and 0.02 ± 0.00%, respectively). All tested extracts showed allelopathic potential; however, the results indicate that the essential oils had a stronger inhibitory effect than the plant extracts.