Weed Science for the Practitioner (ACIS)

Weed Science For The Practitioner

PLS 497A, Fall 2002

Syllabus

Course Coordinator/Instructor:
Dr. William B. McCloskey
541B Marley
Office: (520) 621-7613; Cell: (520) 907-4626
email: wmcclosk@ag.arizona.edu

Other Cooperative Extension Faculty providing lectures include Kai Umeda and Pat Clay.

Course objectives: In depth exploration of selected topics in Weed Science that are most relevant to practicing professionals such as farmers and pest control advisors.

Recommended Textbooks (Note: Students will be provided with selected readings):

Applied Weed Science. 2^nd Ed. Merril A. Ross and Carole A. Lembe. 1999. Prentice-Hall Inc.

Weed Ecology Implications For Management. 2^nd Ed. Steven Radosevich, Jodie Holt and Claudio Ghersa. 1997. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Expanding the Context of Weed Management. 1999. Edited by Douglas D. Buhler. Hayworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY.

Location: Lectures - Wednesday afternoons, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on August 21 & 28, and September 4 & 11 at the Maricopa Agricultural Center (Maricopa, AZ).

Prerequisites: Working knowledge of the basic principles of weed management.

Final Exam: Final exam will be a take-home exam handed out at the end of the last class session on, September 11, 2002, that will be due (mailed to course coordinator) on September 18, 2002.

Grading System for PL S 497A:

Course grades will be based on homework assignments/take-home exams. Exams may consist of problems, essays, short answer, matching, and multiple choice questions.

Exams (take-home):

August 21
August 28
September 4
September 11

Total Points

Points

100
100
100
100

400

Final Grades

       A = 85% 340 pts.
       B = 70% 280 pts.
       C = 55% 220 pts.
D & E = <55% <220 pts.

At the discretion of the instructor, the total points required for a specific letter grade may be lower than stated above.

Course Outline:

Course introduction.
Identifying target species for weed management; plant characteristics useful for identification, reference materials. Brief discussion of where weeds come from and the factors that influence their distribution.
The effect of weed biology and life cycles on weed management strategies and critical times for the application of weed control tools. Discussion of weed vegetative reproduction, seed production and dormancy, soil seed bank dynamics, and crop-weed competition.
Sprayer construction, sprayer calibration, nozzle technology; discussion of sprayer and nozzle factors that cause the production of small spray droplets that drift, and environmental factors that facilitate drift. Discussion of new sprayer weed control technologies
Determining when to control weeds: discussion of the pest threshold concept and its application to weeds.
Weed control strategies and the concept of weed control "windows-of-opportunity" or critical periods of weed control in various cropping systems (e.g., annual row crop, annual broadcast planted crop, perennial broadcast and row crops). Use of tillage for weed control.
The plant system and weed control, plant-herbicide interactions; examination of the nature of plant leaf surfaces and barriers to the uptake of herbicides; discussion of the transport systems that move herbicides in plants and how translocation patterns affect how we use and apply herbicides.
The use of surfactants and other adjuvants to improve the retention and absorption of herbicides by plant surfaces, discussion of postemergence spray properties that increase herbicide efficacy.
Soil-herbicide interactions; discussion of factors affecting the use of preemergence herbicides, herbicide persistence, leaching and the use of water and tillage implements to incorporate herbicides into the soil.
Survey of herbicide chemical families and the mode of action of herbicides; herbicide symptomology; diagnosing herbicide problems in the field.

Full Disclaimers

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, James A. Christenson, Director Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona.

The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.

Any products, services, or organizations that are mentioned, shown, or indirectly implied in this web document do not imply endorsement by The University of Arizona.

For more information contact:
Dr. William B. McCloskey, Weed Specialist, wmcclosk@ag.arizona.edu
University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.