Glyphosate, perhaps the best-known and most widely used herbicide in the world, is once again in the news. This time not from the environmental movement but from an agricultural perspective. In the United Kingdom, for the first time, a population of a weed has been found that has become resistant to glyphosate. Worldwide, numerous cases of resistance have already been reported.
Italian ryegrass has been found to have developed resistance to glyphosate on a field in Kent, the Weed Resistance Action Group (WRAG) of the AHDB (the UK equivalent of BO Arable Farming) announced last week. Since 2019, more than XNUMX samples have been tested for herbicide resistance in the UK. No other cases of resistance to glyphosate have been found so far, although a few are still under investigation.
No new problem
Worldwide, numerous cases of resistance have been reported. According to the agricultural consultancy ADAS, 354 cases of glyphosate resistance have now been identified worldwide in 57 different weed species. Most cases occur in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia and South America. In those countries, corn and soy are grown that are resistant to glyphosate through genetic modification (GMO), the so-called Roundup Ready varieties. There, hardly any other active substances for weed control are used there besides glyphosate, often in combination with minimal tillage.
In the EU, there have been previous cases of glyphosate resistance (in Spain in 2006 and in Italy in 2012). In both cases, the resistant weeds have not spread further. AHDB is calling on growers in the UK to take resistance management seriously. Keep weeds out of the weeds, maximise effectiveness, rotate alternatives and monitor the effect of a measure are just some of the tips from AHDB. To monitor the situation and map the potential for additional cases, a testing programme will be launched next spring.