{"id":723,"date":"2025-07-03T07:41:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T05:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/lleida-esdeve-lepicentre-del-control-sostenible-de-les-males-herbes-que-amenacen-els-cultius\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T12:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T11:38:33","slug":"lleida-becomes-the-epicentre-of-sustainable-weed-control-threatening-crops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/lleida-becomes-the-epicentre-of-sustainable-weed-control-threatening-crops\/","title":{"rendered":"Lleida becomes the epicentre of sustainable weed control threatening crops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n <li>\n<div class=\"flex basis-auto flex-col -mb-(--composer-overlap-px) [--composer-overlap-px:55px] grow overflow-hidden\">\n<div class=\"relative h-full\">\n<div class=\"flex h-full flex-col overflow-y-auto [scrollbar-gutter:stable_both-edges] @[84rem]\/thread:pt-(--header-height)\">\n<div class=\"@thread-xl\/thread:pt-header-height flex flex-col text-sm pb-25\"><article class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full\" dir=\"auto\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto py-5 [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @[37rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @[72rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:32rem] @[34rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @[64rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto flex max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 text-base gap-4 md:gap-5 lg:gap-6 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5\" dir=\"auto\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert w-full break-words light\">\n<ul>\n <li>\n<p><strong>The European Weed Research Symposium (EWRS), held this week in Lleida, brings together more than 350 international scientists to discuss the future of sustainable weed control<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 20th<a href=\"https:\/\/ewrs2025.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Symposium of the European Weed Research Society (EWRS)<\/a>, which concludes tomorrow at La Llotja in Lleida, has turned the city into the international epicentre of scientific debate on sustainable weed control, one of the silent but growing threats to the viability of many crops.<br \/>Over four days, more than 350 scientists from 40 countries have shared over 300 scientific communications with a common goal: to improve weed management in order to guarantee the profitability and sustainability of agricultural systems. And they have done so with an important premise: the need to integrate agronomic, ecological and social knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>As explained by Jordi Recasens, professor at the University of Lleida, researcher at Agrotecnio and president of the organising committee, \u201cthe study of weed management is adopting new approaches. Traditional control of unwanted weeds must be combined, depending on the crop, with the management of species that can bring benefits to the system, such as preventing soil erosion or supporting the presence of pollinators. To meet this challenge, only research can provide the right answers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>The case of <em>Amaranthus palmeri<\/em>: a silent threat<\/strong><br \/>One of the cases analysed during the congress is <em>Amaranthus palmeri<\/em>, an invasive species of American origin that already infests hundreds of hectares of maize in Lleida, Huesca and Extremadura. This plant can grow over two metres tall and produce up to 600,000 seeds per specimen, an exceptional reproductive capacity that is aggravated by its high resistance to herbicides.<\/p>\n<p>In Spain, it is believed to have arrived through imports of grain and flour for animal feed, and it has found an ideal environment for its expansion in maize fields. According to data from the Plant Health Service of the Government of Catalonia, in 2024 there were already more than 2,500 hectares affected in Catalonia.<\/p>\n<p>To tackle this challenge, the crop protection research group at Agrotecnio and the University of Lleida leads the thematic network <a href=\"https:\/\/redpalmer.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PalmerNET<\/a>, made up of four research centres and four universities working together to curb the spread of this species.<\/p>\n<p>As Joel Torra, researcher at Agrotecnio and UdL, points out, \u201caddressing this issue is an urgent need of the agricultural sector, which until now had not been approached systematically. The first studies in Europe that aim to clarify how this species enters and the routes by which it spreads are being presented at this symposium.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Artificial intelligence, regenerative agriculture and new approaches<\/strong><br \/>The EWRS congress has also been the venue for the presentation of technological and agroecological solutions to meet these new challenges. Among the highlighted proposals are the application of artificial intelligence to detect infestations and apply targeted treatments, regenerative agriculture practices that integrate weeds as part of the system, and research into herbicide resistance, which is becoming increasingly frequent and difficult to manage.<\/p>\n<p><br \/>With this symposium, Lleida consolidates itself as a scientific reference in weed science and plant ecology.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"thread-bottom-container\" class=\"content-fade relative isolate z-10 w-full basis-auto has-data-has-thread-error:pt-2 has-data-has-thread-error:[box-shadow:var(--sharp-edge-bottom-shadow)] md:border-transparent md:pt-0 dark:border-white\/20 md:dark:border-transparent flex flex-col\">\n<div id=\"thread-bottom\">\n<div class=\"text-base mx-auto [--thread-content-margin:--spacing(4)] @[37rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(6)] @[72rem]:[--thread-content-margin:--spacing(16)] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:32rem] @[34rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @[64rem]:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto flex max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 text-base gap-4 md:gap-5 lg:gap-6\">\n<div class=\"max-xs:[--force-hide-label:none] relative z-1 flex h-full max-w-full flex-1 flex-col\" role=\"button\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"radix-\u00abRp4lij59jm595j5\u00bb\"><form class=\"w-full [view-transition-name:var(--vt-composer)]\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Compositor de mensajes\">\n<div class=\"bg-token-bg-primary flex w-full cursor-text flex-col items-center justify-center overflow-clip bg-clip-padding contain-inline-size dark:bg-[#303030] shadow-short rounded-[28px]\">\n<div class=\"relative flex w-full items-end px-2.5 py-2.5\">\n<div class=\"relative flex w-full flex-auto flex-col\">\n<div class=\"relative mx-2.5 grid grid-cols-[auto_minmax(0,1fr)]\">\n<div class=\"relative flex-auto bg-transparent pt-1.5\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col justify-start\">\n<div class=\"flex min-h-12 items-start\">\n<div class=\"max-w-full min-w-0 flex-1\">\n<div class=\"_prosemirror-parent_kfgfu_2 text-token-text-primary max-h-[25dvh] max-h-52 -mx-3 px-3 overflow-auto [scrollbar-width:thin] default-browser vertical-scroll-fade-mask min-h-12 pe-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/form><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European Weed Research Symposium (EWRS), held this week in Lleida, brings together more than 350 international scientists to discuss the future of sustainable weed control The 20th Symposium of the European Weed Research Society (EWRS), which concludes tomorrow at La Llotja in Lleida, has turned the city into the international epicentre of scientific debate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5207,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions\/5207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrotecnio.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}