Miss Miranda Slaven1, Dr Daniel Huberli2, Dr Catherine Borger1
1Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Northam, Australia, 2Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, South Perth, Australia
Biography:
Miranda is a weed scientist focusing on non-chemical weed management strategies and is the national expert on electric weed control. She has been employed by The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) for the past three years as the lead researcher on a project investigating the fit for electric weed control in Australian systems. Miranda is actively involved in extension and training workshops to allow for the effective management of weeds using a variety of strategies in the paddock in our evolving farming systems.
Abstract:
Electric weed control is a non-chemical weed management strategy that is being used internationally as an alternative to current management tactics including herbicides and tillage. Electric weed control delivers an electrical current (via the continuous electrode-plant contact method or the spark-discharge method) through the foliage, stems, and roots of weeds, bursting their cells and killing the plant, or suppressing its growth. However, it has been speculated that as the electrical current travels into the soil during the application, there may be an impact on soil biota, especially if they are connected to the root system. Obtaining effective weed control while ensuring a lack of damage to soil biological populations is particularly important to organic growers globally.
Using rhizoctonia (Rhizoctonia solani AG8) as an indicator species, this research investigated the potential effect of electric weed control applications with the AGXTEND XPower (powered by Zasso™) on the soil biological community. Here, electric weed control did not influence the rhizoctonia population, even at the slow application speeds of 1.4 km h-1 to maximise the ‘dose’ of electricity applied, and with repeated application of the same site. However, the electric weed control applications did effectively control the weed population with full senescence of mature annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) occurring after 2-3 weeks.