DSS-IWM: An improved European Decision Support System for Integrated Weed Management

In the frame of the European ERA-Net project “Coordinated Integrated Pest Management in Europe (C-IPM)” scientists from Germany, Denmark and Spain design and customise an innovative online decision support system for integrated weed control (DSS-IWM) in maize and winter wheat. The project runs from 2016 to 2019 with the aim to assist farmers and farm advisors in treating weeds in crops at precisely the right times and the most efficient products in the right amounts. DSS-IWM can, therefore, contribute to reducing herbicide consumption markedly without affecting the yield. It will support reliable decisions based on local conditions and will consider thresholds for weed densities, include economic calculations of treatment costs. The basis of herbicide recommendations is the database and the calculation/mathematics of the DSS-IWM, especially dose-response-relations of herbicides. If data gaps appear pot trials with respective weeds and herbicides are carried out. New features and information are continuously filled in. Additionally, in all countries field trials in maize and winter wheat are carried out to validate the DSS.