Integrated Weed Management in Coffee for Sustainable Agriculture – A Practical Brazilian Approach

Abstract

Brazil is the largest coffee exporter in the world market and ranks second among coffee-consuming countries. The use of technology has been largely responsible for the great development of Brazilian agriculture in recent years. Then, the efficiency of integrated weed management has made the country more competitive in coffee farming. Therefore, integrated weed management (IWM) practices are the foundation for sustainable weed management in coffee fields. Weed competition cause losses in crop production. In weed control, besides chemical control, there are other methods that are efficient, economical, and beneficial to the coffee plant and to the environment that can be used on any property, such as preventive and cultural managements; and mechanical, biological, and physical controls. The combination of weed control methods has proven to be a sustainable practice in coffee production. In integrated management, the inherent advantages of each control method must be combined. Lastly, IWM provides an efficient control action with lower costs, better environmental conservation, and higher crop productivity. Thus, this chapter discusses the main practices of sustainable weed management in coffee, addressing issues such as competition, benefits, main weeds, and IWM systems.