Herbicide Resistance

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Key points in this POSTnote include:

Agricultural crop yields are reduced when unwanted plants (weeds) compete with crops. Synthetic herbicides are widely used to control weeds.
A wide variety of weeds have shown resistance to a range of herbicides, which reduces chemical control options.
The EU regulates the use of herbicides. Changes to the regulations in 2009 have reduced control options further.
More diverse management strategies that include non-chemical methods, such as spring cropping, may help conserve the effectiveness of herbicides and contribute to reducing resistant weed numbers.

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- Food security
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- Food security