The Weed Resistance Global Symposium took place in Paris, France, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 and was held by Bayer CropScience.
The event gave the 200 participants the opportunity to gather and share ideas on herbicide resistance. The participants came from 26 countries to collaborate and exchange knowledge on innovation to fight global weed resistance.
“Increasing weed resistance on a global level is a huge challenge that is too large for one company,” Bayer CropScience CEO Liam Condon said in his presentation. “The problem can only be solved through a holistic and sustainable approach based on knowledge exchange, collaboration and innovation. That’s why we at Bayer are driving collaborations with leading scientists and institutions to jointly develop new solutions which help farmers worldwide to combat herbicide-resistant weeds.”
Weeds are the number one reason for crop losses across the globe, and the weeds are constantly becoming more resistant to herbicides. If the problem with weeds could be controlled, one billion more people would have food.
“Science plays an important role in propelling the future of farming -- to continue innovating, we must increasingly invest in research and development,” Condon said. “In 2015, we will invest more than EUR 1 billion in R&D with a strong focus on our integrated toolbox, combining chemical and biological crop protection products with modern breeding technologies and trait research.”
Bayer also launched its Integrated Weed Management (IWM) program to enhance farmers’ productivity over the long term.
“The aim of our IWM strategies is to reduce weed pressure and keep weeds within acceptable levels which make it easier for herbicides to function properly and reduce the selection pressure for resistance,” Christine Brunel-Ligneau, head of Bayer’s IWM program, said. “Farmers need to be encouraged to keep herbicide technologies effective by varying between different crop protection products and practices and combining them with non-chemical measures such as crop rotation and soil cultivation in order to combat the build-up of resistance.”
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