Herbicide Resistance: A Challenge For Sustainable Agriculture*)

Abstract

Herbicide, in modern agriculture, plays an important role in increasing agricultural production.In Indonesia, oil palm field is the is the highest volume of herbicide usage. The herbicide is generally applied three to four rounds each year. Persistent use of the same mode of action of for a long time of period could lead to the development herbicide-resistance in weed biotype or succession of dominant weed species. The occurrenceof a herbicide resistant weed population will make its control more difficult and creates more cost. Similarly, weed management problems may also occur when dominant weed species shift from dominant weed species easy to control to weed species more difficult to control. Both of these consequences, herbicide resistance and weed succession, are due to persistent use of the same mode of action of herbicide for a long time of period which results in weed control failures. Herbicide resistant weed population and weed species succession should be overcome or delayed by implementing integrated weed management or diversity of herbicides.