Aarhus, Denmark
October 10, 2011
There are more than 200 species of weeds in maize in Europe. Only a single species is common in all the countries investigated.
Scientists from Aarhus University have carried out a survey to identify which weed species are found in maize in a range of selected maize-growing countries in Europe. The selected countries were: Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Rumania, Spain and Great Britain.
The results, which are published in a report from Aarhus University, show that there are more than 200 weed species in maize in the countries in the investigation. Of these, 61 species are considered ”commonly occurring” in at least one country, while one of the species, Chenopodium album, occurs commonly in all of the 11 countries.
The scientists got their information about the prevalence of the weed species by contacting leading experts in the field in each of the countries in the survey.
As expected, the individual species were most common in countries with climatic conditions that are favourable for the weed in question and less common in areas with less favourable conditions.
The tables and maps showing the prevalence of the various weed species in the selected countries can be found in the report ”Survey of weeds in maize crops in Europe, DJF report, Markbrug no. 149, April 2011” which can be downloaded here.
Topics
Species
